Honeybee
by FourLivingCreatures
Summary: A wounded Sound 4 member lays dying after the Sasuke Retrieval Mission. However before they can perish, an unusual travelling doctor finds them. Yuri.
1. Chapter 1

Honeybee Chapter 1

Tayuya of the Sound Four had been defeated by Subaku no Temari and Nara Shikamaru, having been waged in a war of endurance with Shikamaru before being annihilated by the long-range wind attacks of Temari. Upon being hit by Temari's Summoning Bladedance, she'd been crushed by the surrounding trees as they were sliced apart. Upon sensing Tayuya's imminent death, Orochimaru had deactivated the curse mark, in order to prevent others from attempting to access the secrets hidden within.

Unfortunately, someone had already found her.

Tayuya's entire body was in a chaotic mess of feeling. At one part, the Sound Kunoichi could feel utter agony from what she could only assume was a combination of blood loss and crushed limbs, whilst at random points she felt an odd sense of sweet bliss. She kept drifting in and out of consciousness, unable to make out anything.

Her eyes eventually fluttered awake and she immediately groaned in pain. ' _Great. I'll be conscious to witness my own fucking death.'_ she thought glumly before looking around. From what she could tell, she was in a campsite and night had fallen. There was a warm fire roaring in front of her, with a wall of logs made behind it to reflect the heat directly on her. She seemed to be laying down on a makeshift bed, made out of wood and leaves.

"Ah.. You're awake. I'm glad. You were in quite a bad shape when I found you." Tayuya would have scoffed at the voice that called out to her, if it weren't so utterly melodious and downright enticing. It sounded like a soft caring voice, filtered ever so slightly by this strange buzzing sound. The Sound Kunoichi had been around a bunch of people and a voice that caring was neigh-impossible to fake. Either the owner of the voice was a master at verbal deception, or they were genuinely caring for her. She didn't know which one was more surprising.

Tayuya shifted around ever so slightly to get a view of the person and her eyes widened a tad at the sight. A girl was standing above her and appeared to be around the same age as her, with long honey blonde hair that was tied in two pigtails and ran down her lithe body. Her skin was incredibly pale and bright yellow eyes stared straight into her core, giving her an innocent yet sharp look that was utterly confusing to the young Sound Kunoichi. Tayuya's eyes idly noticed that the girl's plump lips were a slight golden yellow hue, same as her hair and eyes.

Glancing at her clothes, it was obvious to Tayuya that the girl was a girl on the run or had been in the wilderness for a long period of time. She wore a plain white shirt with several large holes in it, with a short yellow skirt that was equally tattered. A small tan backpack rested behind her that was worn and covered in stitches.

"If you're done staring at my body, I'd like to hear you speak. I've been healing you to the best of my ability, but I'd like to be certain there's no damage to your vocal cords." the girl remarked in such a dry tone that Tayuya blushed, but she could see amusement flickering in the girl's golden eyes.

"Fuck... right. What the hell happened to me? Who are you?" Tayuya asked, coughing ever so slightly at the softness of her voice and inwardly cringing. She hated feeling weak. Especially around people.

The girl's eyes glanced at her worryingly before she responded, "I am Kamizuru Beatrice. Please, just call me Beatrice." Tayuya's eyes widened ever so slightly at the name before slowly muttering her own name in response. She'd heard back at Oto that the Kamizuru clan had been annihilated fourteen years ago by an unknown cause. "Judging by your expression you recognise my clan name. As for you, I found you wedged under a vast amount of cut trees and bleeding heavily. Judging by your figure and the damage to the area, I would assume you're a Kunoichi of some kind, yes?"

Tayuya paused for a moment as she thought about what she should reveal to the girl. She was technically still in enemy territory and severely weakened, but she had no choice but to give some information in the least, "Ahh. Yeah, I am. Why? You gunna kill me or something if I'm not in a village you like?" she threatened, before blinking incredulously at the bell-like giggle she got in response from the girl.

"It doesn't matter if you're the worst girl imaginable. I healed you. I'm not going to throw that away for some petty thing like village allegiances." she continued to giggle, seemingly oblivious to the light dusting of pink that now dusted Tayuya's cheeks before sighing and muttering quietly, "I don't belong to any village. I'm a traveller."

Tayuya noticed the solemn tone at which Beatrice had said the last part and she felt a spark of curiosity, but knew to keep quiet about it for now. Even it Oto, if there was one rule that people followed, it was to _never_ piss off a healer.

So, she decided to change the subject, "Err. Right. How fucked up am I?" she asked, gesturing weakly to the large amount of bandages she found covering her body.

Beatrice couldn't resist a giggle at the phrasing of Tayuya's question, "Well, you were quite.. uhmm. 'fucked up' when I chanced upon your body, but your injuries will fade if you don't push it. From what I could find, you had just under seventy cuts and abrasions covering your body, with moderate levels of internal bleeding and your legs were basically flattened from all the logs." she remarked and Tayuya's face fell at the last part. Not being able to walk as a Kunoichi was basically a death sentence. Especially in Oto, she didn't even want to know what they'd- "You'll be fine."

…

Tayuya blinked and stared at the girl incredulously, "I get my fuckin' legs crushed and you say I'll be fine?! I'm a Kunoichi damn it! I'm fucked!" she screeched, tears welling up in her eyes from anger and sadness. She _loathed_ being weak.

Beatrice merely giggled, ignoring the stern glare coming from Tayuya, "You'll be able to walk eventually once I'm done healing you. With physical therapy, you'll be up to peak condition within a month or so. Trust me, this isn't my worst injury I've treated. Far from it."

Yet again, Tayuya merely stared at the probably insane healer before sighing and looking down at her legs, which were being warmed by the fire. _Then_ her eyes widened. She'd seen the state they were in after the fight with the Konoha and Suna brats before she passed out and Beatrice wasn't wrong in her assessment- her legs were crushed. But _now_ they looked incredibly weak, but had regained some muscle. "H-how.." she found herself muttering as she flexed her toes and slowly attempted to move her legs, only to grunt in slight pain.

Her healer merely giggled that ridiculously intoxicating bell-like giggle of hers and smiled, "My abilities as a healer are rather unique." she said before turning serious, "Now, we shall need to move in the morning, so I suggest you get some rest. There is a village near here that will be able to drastically speed up your recovery process."  
Tayuya nodded, but felt slightly suspicious about the girl's technique. She didn't need to be a healer to know how fucked her legs were. To even be alive now was a miracle, bullshit super-powered med-nin or not. Speaking of nin... "Wait, isn't there only like.. one damn village that's near here?"

Beatrice nodded, "Yes. Konoha. I need to restock on a variety of supplies and meet with a few people. Why, are you from there?" she asked curiously, tilting her head in a way Tayuya would have found adorable if she wasn't internally panicking at the new information.

' _Fuck! Fuck fuckity fuck! Of course it had to be fucking Konoha!'_ she raged internally before hesitantly speaking up, "Listen.. I'm not.. err.. 'well liked' in that village, if you get my drift. In other words, they'd fucking cut my pretty little head off if I came near them, probably." she said hatefully, remembering her battle with those Konoha nin. Especially a certain Nara.

Beatrice gained a look of shock on her face before she sighed, "I see. Unfortunately, there isn't any other way around it. There's no other villages nearby and I'll need to resupply my travelling equipment," she paused for a moment and thought up an idea, "I have knowledge on Konoha's medical laws regarding Kunoichi in need. Regardless of your affiliation towards any specific village, a shinobi or Kunoichi's medical needs are placed above all else. They legally can't so much as question you until you're in proper condition."

Tayuya nodded slowly as she thought, ' _If she's a travelling doctor or whatever, how the hell can she know all this crap?'_ she wondered as she narrowed her eyes, "So? Once they heal me they'll just torture me or whatever."

Beatrices eyes flared with an expression of barely contained rage before she slowly answered, "I will _not_ let them injure you. You are my patient. After I just did all of that to heal you, I won't just let them ruin it all. I'd sooner kill them all before letting that happen."

Tayuya's eyes widened in shock as she heard that. It was plainly obvious that she'd been though a similar event and frankly that horrified the Sound Kunoichi. To see one with such a sweet and cute girl talk about- ' _Wait. Cute?! What the fuck, brain. I'm motherfucking Tayuya the strong bitch in charge. Not some blushing academy schoolgirl-_ "

She was snapped out of her rampaging thoughts by Beatrice cocking her head to the side and tentatively asking, "Oh? Tayuya-san? Are you alright? You're cheeks are heating up again. Is it the fire? I can lessen it if you'd prefer."

If anything, this only further served to increase the reddening of her cheeks, "First off, no honorifics. Fucking hate that shit." she paused before quietly muttering, "I'm fine.. Just trying to wrap my head around all this, that's all. The fire's fine as it is."

Beatrice slowly nodded in understanding, "Yes, I imagine this had been quite a taxing event. As for Konoha, if it's needed, I can potentially induct you into what's left of my clan. You'd be under my jurisdiction under head-of-house. At most, you'd be interrogated for information surrounding whatever has annoyed them, but I would have to be present. I know a few techniques to get us out of there if needed." she paused a moment before her cheeks tinted a slightly golden hue and she quietly added, "I do not require honorifics either."

Tayuya stared at the girl for a long while before her lips twitched upwards, "You'd do that? You'd induct me into your clan? How? I thought you needed to be heiress or some shit for that."

The blonde-haired girl nodded slowly, a faraway look on her face, "Yes, I would. I'm technically heiress. It is well within my right to do such things for you, even if I'm the only surviving member."

Tayuya's eyes narrowed and she curiously asked, "Technically? What do you mean?" Beatrice flinched and Tayuya instantly realised she'd gone too far in her questioning, "Damn. Sorry. You don't have to answer that. Ahh, fuck. I'm not used to all this emotional crap." she muttered, unintentionally bringing a smile to Beatrice's face once more.

"It's alright. I shall tell you another time, Tayuya. For now, just get some rest. I shall have food and water prepared for you in the morning." she said as she lay down on the forest floor, "If you need me, just clap or something. I am usually quick to awaken. I shall need to heal you again in the morning, by the way."

Tayuya stared at the girl before quietly asking, "Why are you sleeping on the ground?"

Beatrice merely shrugged, "It does not concern me." she replied, before laying back and keeping her golden eyes on the stars above.

There was a silence before the Sound Kunoichi muttered, "No.. come here." Beatrice instantly shot up and stared at the girl with wide eyes. Tayuya merely smirked, glad to have surprised a seemingly relaxed girl, "Do I need to repeat myself?" she teased.

Beatrice merely giggled before laying down next to Tayuya, careful not to agitate any of her wounds. The girls stared at each other before Beatrice quietly mumbled, "Arigato. Goodnight." and promptly fell asleep, surprising her patient with how quick she'd fallen asleep, considering her prior statement about being a light sleeper.

Tayuya stared at the girl's peaceful expression for what seemed like hours before finally smiling and mumbling, "Goodnight.." before loosing herself to unconsciousness.

The next day, Tayuya's eyes slowly fluttered open when she felt the irritating glow of the sun pierce through her. She blinked in confusion at her location before the memories of last night returned to her. ' _Right.. Beatrice, the wandering doctor.'_ she thought as she looked around the area. The previously raging fire had died down to a small trickle and flickered with life occasionally. She idly remembered that Beatrice had slept next to her lastnight and her cheeks reddened slightly before she wondered, ' _Just where is the girl, anyway?'_

A voice form behind her brought her out of her ravings, "Ah, good morning Tayuya. I brought you breakfast. Here you go." Tayuya turned and came face-to-face with Beatrice oncemore and she resisted a groan. This was the second time she'd been able to sneak up on her. The smell of food caught her attention and she blinked in surprise.

There was a carved wooden tray being held by Beatrice, with wooden bowls containing a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, along with what smelt like cooked pork and a small serving of honey. There was a filled waterskin resting on the side.

Beatrice's cheeks gained that same golden tinge as last-night and she meekly responded, "I am unaware of what food you prefer, so I gathered a selection." she smiled slightly as she watched Tayuya immediately begin digging into the food without a moment's hesitation before she added, "When you have finished, I shall heal you once more."

As Tayuya munched on the food, she felt like she was in heaven. All the food that had been gathered was exceedingly ripe, seemingly picked at the perfect moment of it's growth stage and the meat was cooked to utter perfection. When she'd finished everything, she burped loudly and without shame, getting a giggle from Beatrice. The sound Kunoichi was quick to say, "Cheers. Haven't had a meal that tasty in forever." she got a polite smile and nod in response, "So, how's this healing work? You a medical Kunoichi or something?"

Beatrice paused for a moment and she muttered, "Or something..." before sighing in a way that told Tayuya that the blonde had been dreading this moment, "To put it plainly, I possess an ability that allows me to distribute poisons through mucosal contact. However, I can also use that same ability to create curative droughts that are tailor-made for a patient's DNA." at Tayuya's blank stare she sighed and muttered, "I can kiss people and make them better. Or kill them."

…

Tayuya blinked. Once. Twice. Then she blurted, "That's a fucking hot ability. Literal kiss of death. Neat." she muttered, forcing the developing blush on her cheeks down.

It was Beatrice's turn to blink in surprise, "You're not repulsed by my ability? Most patients feel some degree of distrust when I reveal that to them." she revealed, cocking her head to the side in confusion.

Tayuya merely shrugged, "Nah. You shoulda seen my team-mates! Their abilities were far worse. Hell, one dude had six fucking arms, man. You kinda get desensitised to strange stuff." she had to resist smiling when she heard Beatrice giggle from the story.

Beatrice smiled. "Arigato, Tayuya. This shall be the first time I have kissed one that welcomed it. Enjoy." before Tayuya could respond, Beatrice had leant forward and mashed her lips against her own. The sound Kunoichi couldn't resist moaning at the utterly sweet taste of Beatrice. Her lips tasted surprisingly similar to the honey she'd just ate, yet without the sticky sensation. When Beatrice pulled apart, Tayuya could see that her lips weren't as golden any more and had adopted the same pale sheen as the rest of her skin.

"Holy fuck, you're one hell of a kisser." Tayuya breathed with a flushed expression before her eyes widened in surprise as she realised that was her first kiss. _Then_ she realised something else, "Hey, wait a moment! You said you needed to heal me 'once more'..." her eyes gained a teasing expression and her lips curled upwards, "So, you've been taking advantage of little ol' me whilst I was unconscious, eh?" her teasing was rewarded when Beatrice's cheeks instantly tinted a far darker yellow hue than before and she looked away in embarrassment. ' _That's definitely a blush. She actually blushes yellow. Neat.'_

"It wasn't like that!" Beatrice exclaimed bashfully, before looking away again when Tayuya's looked at her with a teasing sneer. She eventually sighed and muttered, "Alright, enough messing around. I'm going to start packing up and we'll be good to go in around half an hour. As for the.. technique, it uses, it's sustained by your chakra. I'd advise against using chakra if you can, but you shinobi types find that blasphemous." she remarked the last part dryly, her face momentarily shifting into a deadpan expression telling tales of the countless shinobi she's treated.

Tayuya smirked at the flustered expression on Beatrice's face before she idly wondered, "Right. Err. I still can't walk. How the hell am I going to get to Konoha? Doubt you got a stretcher in that tiny backpack."

The sound Kunoichi almost shivered at the highly amused smirk that now grew on Beatrice's delicate face, "Oh. That's quite simple. I'm going to carry you."


	2. Chapter 2

Honeybee _Chapter 2_

True to her words, Beatrice had somehow carried Tayuya during the entirety of the trip to Konoha, though the sound Kunoichi couldn't figure out how that was even possible. She'd seen Beatrice's figure and it definitely wasn't the body of a trained Kunoichi. In fact, there were barely any muscles visible whatsoever. She seemed so frail, but she'd picked Tayuya up like she was a twig. When questioned on it, she'd merely giggled and whispered 'It's a secret'. By that time they'd already reached the front gate to Konoha Tayuya still hadn't been able to coerce the girl to explain.

Standing in front of them were two gate guards, obviously Jonin by the hideous green jackets that Konoha required them to wear. One had wild black spiky hair and a large bandage spreading over his face, whilst the other wore a bandanna that covered most of his brown hair.

"Ah, travellers! Welcome to Konoha, I'm Hagane Kotetsu and this is Kamizuki Izumo," the bandaged one said as he gestured to his guard, "What is your purpose for approaching Konoha?"

Tayuya stiffened when their eyes focussed on her for a moment and narrowed, but Beatrice was quick to respond, "Greetings, Hagane-san, Kamizuki-san. I am Kamizuru Beatrice. I'm a travelling doctor in these parts and recently discovered this girl, who was heavily injured. Under the Kamizuru clan, I would request the assistance of Konoha's medical practitioners for her ongoing treatment." Izumo narrowed his eyes at the last name. He'd heard of the Kamizuru clan's slaughter fourteen years ago, but he'd also heard rumours of a travelling doctor that used their clan name. Was this the girl? Plus, he was sure he'd seen her patient before. He'd attempted to read Beatrice, but her face gave out as many tells as a brick wall.

Kotetsu pouted, "Aww, and here I thought you were two girls on a honeymoon, given the bridal carry she'd got you in" he taunted, getting an enraged snarl from Tayuya.

"My legs are fucked, dumbass. How the hell do you expect me to walk?" Tayuya said mockingly, getting a grimace from the man who jaunted back from her crass language. Beatrice merely giggled in amusement, her expressionless face shifting into a smile for a small moment.

Izuno sighed, "Ignore my friend. He's obviously insane-" he mocked, getting an exaggerated whimper from Kotetsu in response before continuing in a serious tone, "Is your patient currently in a stable condition?"

Beatrice nodded, "Hai. However, I shall need to remain in her presence during the entirety of our stay here, as her condition requires my constant attention."

Kotetsu raised an amused eyebrow, "We've got Tsunade of the Sanin here. I'm sure your little friend would be in safe hands."

Tayuya almost groaned as she heard of that name. _Of course_ Konoha had the most vicious of all med-nin in town. If Tsunade figured out who she was, she'd be utterly _fucked_. The Sanin had one hell of a punch, even if she didn't infuse chakra into it.

Beatrice only snorted, surprising everyone with the casual dismissal, "During this time, my patient requires a serum that I alone can only produce with a unique ability of my own, which has to be keyed to her DNA and repeatedly altered on a molecular level during the various stages of her recovery. Whilst Tsunade is an incredibly effective med-nin, this type of injury requires my personal abilities." she chided, getting a look of utter bafflement from the two gate guards, whilst Tayuya looked at the girl with wide eyes. She could see what Beatrice was implying and that was dangerous thing to say in a foreign village.

Izumo groaned, "Never piss off a doctor, Kotetsu. Even if they're young," Izumo scolded and Tayuya almost snorted. Seems like the rule she'd heard wasn't restricted to Oto. "I shall require you both to personally meet the Hokage before treatment. Will you comply?"

Beatrice nodded, "Very well. However, know that my patient is under my protection. I will not tolerate _any_ moves against her during this state. It would be disastrous not to her health, but to the attackers. Do I make myself clear?" she asked in such a sickly sweet voice Tayuya would have laughed at the sudden paling and rapid nodding of the two guards if her tone wasn't so fucking terrifying. Such an obviously faked sweet voice coming from a doctor meant BAD things.

Izumo decided to personally escort them to the Hokage Tower, leaving Kotetsu to guard the gate for him. He glanced wearily at the two civilians who were following him, with Beatrice carrying her patient bridal style. He'd opted to go a civilian pace initially, but sped up ever so slightly to test their speed. Much to his surprise, Beatrice was quick to keep up with him, but after he'd attempted to jump with chakra, she'd merely stared at him blankly and stated civilians don't know that technique.

"Hokage-sama, I present Kamizuru Beatrice- a travelling doctor who requests medical aid for her patient. As the patient is in stable condition, they were sent here." he remarked, before pushing the two girls through the door and shutting it with a frown on his face. He tried to hide how relieved how was that they were gone. That young doctor was incredibly unsettling, she'd spoken a little _too_ well.

The two girls stared mutely at the Hokage, both with wildly different reasons. Tayuya was downright terrified when she found out that _Senju Tsunade_ herself was the Hokage. By the way Tsunade's eyes had snapped right towards her and narrowed, she _knew._ Tayuya had glanced worryingly at Beatrice, who -much to Tayuya's surprise- was merely staring at Tsunade with a blank look on her face.

"I trust there's a good reason why one of the Sound Four responsible for the kidnapping of Uchiha Sasuke and partially responsible for the death of the Third Hokage is standing in my room under the guise of a sickly patient?" Tsunade snarled, flooding the room with an intense level of killing intent.

Tayuya flinched violently from the tone and killing intent. She'd just blatantly ratted her out to Beatrice. Even if this was by choice or mere coincidence, the Hokage had completely ruined her impressions with Beatrice. She looked at Beatrice with shame in her eyes, only to blink in confusion when her doctor just stared at her with a bright smile on her face.

"Hokage-sama, she is my patient. I am treating her. Would you have preferred I left her crushed under three tonnes of forest material?" Beatrice asked with a frown, her hands clenching in anger and seemingly unfazed by the Hokage's own killing intent.

"Bah, course not." Tsunade shrugged uncaringly, "Either way, you've brought a wanted criminal straight to us and will be compensated accordingly, ANBU-"

Before the Hokage could finish, Beatrice calmly stated, "She is under my protection as my ward of the Kamizuru clan and your own medical laws. If I deem it necessary, I can allow her to answer questions related to the events you specified previously. However, I will only consider such once she is fully healed."

Tsunade almost swore. The brat was well informed. If she attacked a ward of a clan -massacred or not- she'd ruin her reputation with potential tourists and even her own clans that resided within Konoha, not to mention she'd anger the Fire Daimyo and the other Kage. Not to mention her own medical laws. Once word got out that the healer sanin herself had disobeyed her own medical laws, she'd be labelled a hypocrite by almost everyone she knew.

"Fine. Brat. What are your conditions?" Tsunade groaned. She hadn't expected a mere young teen to have so much knowledge on political matters.

Beatrice looked at a worried Tayuya and smiled reassuringly, noticing how tense she'd become in her arms, "I request an official pardon for her previous charges in trade for information regarding said events. However, I must attend all questioning sessions and _will_ step in if the questioning borders on physical or psychological torture or manipulation. During her recovery, I shall be in her presence during all times, as her recovery is directly tied to my intervention." she paused for a moment and a small smirk grew on her face, "I shall also disclose information regarding a technique which can severely lower your needed attendance during the signing of documents."

Tsunade almost immediately accepted under the premise of lowering her paperwork curse, but something caught her eye, "Wait. What injury does she even have and how can you possibly be personally needed to treat it?"

Beatrice sighed, "To put it bluntly, her legs were crushed entirely. Even her chakra network between her ankles and lower thighs was completely annihilated. Through the use of a unique Kekkei Genkai I possess, I can heal such a condition, but only with constant application for at least several days, excluding physical therapy." Tayuya winced. She hadn't known about the severity of her damage. Chakra network injuries were bad news. Even Orochimaru and Kabuto barely had a _theory_ of how to adequately repair a chakra network with pure ninjutsu.

The Hokage raised an eyebrow at that, "The Kamizuru clan were a group of offensive-focussed Shinobi known for their use of bees. Not once have I heard that they can use such a technique."

Beatrice's posture slumped glumly and she meekly responded, "They couldn't. I was unique among them." she muttered before snapping back to attention and stoically asked, "So, do we have an accord, Hokage-sama?"

A tense moment occurred as the Tsunade and Beatrice stared at each other unflinchingly before the Hokage finally answered, "Fine. But you tell me that damn paperwork technique right now." Tayuya let out a sigh of relief and admiration for Beatrice. She'd strongarmed one of the strongest women in existence, but even she was wondering what the technique to beat paperwork was.

Beatrice giggled at the look of utter need on the Hokage's face before she said, "Two simple words..." she paused for dramatics before saying, " _Shadow Clones_ ".

…

Throughout Konoha, every citizen shuddered as they heard the Hokage's loud voice yelling out various swears and nonsensical phrases in quick succession followed by a loud earthquake that was the signature response of her chakra enhanced strength. Whoever had angered the Hokage would be living a short life.

…

Tayuya was almost struggling to get air into her lungs after laughing so hard at the look of utter horror and shock that had appeared on the Hokage's face before the sanin had slammed her head into the desk with such force that it _shattered_ into small fragments.

A masked ninja with a dog mask had rushed inside saying, "Hokage-sama. I heard an explosion. Are you-" he'd paused when Tsunade had jumped up and grabbed him, her face contorted in an expression he couldn't understand.

" _Shadow Clones,_ ANBU Dog. After all this time, I could have had _shadow clones_ doing the paperwork whilst I got utterly shitfaced. ARGH." she said the name of the technique with such a mix of scorn and abstract fanaticism that ANBU Dog wasn't even aware was possible.

ANBU Dog, also known as Hatake Kakashi, blinked in confusion before grimacing, realising that his Genin student had the most _powerful technique in the elemental nations._ Uzumaki Naruto might actually be suited for Hokage simply because he could make so many clones.

"Uhm. Right. Er, who are they?" he asked, gesturing to the two girls who were watching the scene with amused faces. He'd raised an eyebrow when he'd seen the redhead girl being carried so protectively as they were escorted to the Hokage's office, but he hadn't expected such a reaction from Tsunade.

Said Hokage merely smirked when she realised something, "Your little Genin used that technique in front of you constantly and you didn't inform me of it's uses, eh..?" Kakashi felt a sudden urge to run for the hills, "ANBU Dog, please remove your mask." he nervously removed his mask, not even pausing to question her.

Tsunade smirked at the fear emanating from him, "Hatake Kakashi, meet Kamizuru Beatrice. However, take a good look at the girl she's got in her arms. Recognise her?" Kakashi stared at the girl for a long time before his eyes widened in surprise and he whipped out a kunai, "Meet Tayuya. Former Oto Kunoichi, now ward of the Kamizuru clan." the sound Kunoichi flinched when she realised that Tsunade had known her name the entire time and had merely played along with the charade. Just what else did she know?

Kakashi looked at Tsunade in surprise. Why wasn't the Oto nin held up? Tsunade must have noticed his confusion because she was quick to say, "Due to her brat of a clan leader, she'd been officially pardoned for her crimes due to medical and political reasons. I'm assigning you and a few random Shinobi from the Konoha 11 to monitor them for the foreseeable future."

Kakashi nodded stoically as his mask hid a frown. With Naruto gone and Sakura devastated from Sasuke's betrayal, he was basically without a team at this point. Sure, the pink-haired girl was still here in Konoha at this point, but she was definitely not in the right head space to be around one of the very same people that helped Sasuke escape.

Tayuya nearly flinched when Tsunade's eyes suddenly snapped to her and the Sanin coldly asked, "You, Oto nin. What's your affiliation with Orochimaru?"

At this, Tayuya was drawn to Beatrice's eyes for some reason and she found the girl giving her a questioning and worried glance. If anything, she seemed afraid, but Tayuya couldn't figure out why. She hesitantly pulled her gaze away from the girl and spoke up, "He left me here to die. If it wasn't for Beatrice, I'd still be trapped under all those fucking logs. He used us as tools and experiments. If it wasn't for the damn curse mark preventing us, I woulda high-tailed it outta there ages ago."

Tsunade grimaced, "Right. You have a curse mark. I remember reading about it in a report after the mission. We'll need to figure out a way to get it off you."

Tayuya groaned, "Fuck, I wish I could. But I doubt you all can figure out a way. That snake bastard would always gloat about how unbreakable-"

"I can heal you."

All eyes quickly snapped to Beatrice, who was staring at Tayuya with a sharp gaze. Her eyes bright and flaring with emotion. "T-There's no way you can, Beatrice!" Tayuya responded defiantly, "I've seen people try. It can't be removed. It's too strong. Too strong..." she mumbled the last bit solemnly, her arms unconsciously clinging tighter to Beatrice.

Tsunade ignored the heartfelt moment and spoke up, "You have knowledge on the curse marks?"

Beatrice nodded slowly, eyes still staring at Tayuya and pulling her closer in a comforting gesture, "My.. abilities are powered by a combination of my own chakra and senjutsu chakra," she exclaimed slowly, looking at Tayuya with a warming gesture and ignoring the shocked looks from Kakashi and Tsunade, "It's how I found you under the logs. You and four others were using a vast amount of senjutsu chakra and my.. abilities were attracted to the scent."

Tayuya nodded slowly, "I see.. But, what's that got to do with the mark?" she inquired.

"Tell me, what do you think the curse mark does?" Beatrice questioned, her eyes taking on a fearful expression.

The sound Kunoichi felt a fearful feeling of her own growing in response to Beatrice's question and she stated, "Well, from what Orochimaru told me, it takes natural energy from the air and converts it into senjutsu chakra, allowing us to transform, but it's taxing on our bodies to use it for too long. It's a sign of loyalty to Orochimaru."

Beatrice flinched and her expression grew incredibly grave, "Tayuya, I've seen these curse marks before. It's eroding your personality, making you entirely subservient to the owner. From what I've gathered, it uses a piece of the caster's soul in combination with fuinjutsu and high chakra reserves to slowly overtake your chakra system. Most likely, the senjutsu chakra is used as a reinforcing technique that speeds up the process."

Tayuya's eyes widened and she immediately stared scratching the back of her neck where the mark is, "Get it off! Now! Please! I don't want to be a thrall! Please!" she cried out hysterically, only stopping when Beatrice grabbed her hand forcefully and stared directly at her.

"As I said before, I can heal you."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed at the wording, "But can you remove it?" he inquired.

Beatrice slowly answered, "There are two ways I am able to heal you, but both have their own unique reactions. The first is I consume the senjutsu chakra directly. Whilst you do not feel the urge to 'transform' as you say, you will still host the shard of his soul inside of you. Either your own soul will consume the fragment and alter your personality, or the fragment will consume you and Orochimaru would have full control of your body."

Tayuya flinched fearfully at the horrifying depiction. "And the other way?" she asked wearily.

"Instead of removing the senjutsu chakra, I remove the soul fragment and temporarily replace it with my own fragment. As the curse seal is based on wilful intent of the hosted soul, it would no longer corrupt you. However, my soul fragment would consume the entire seal, letting the senjutsu chakra flow directly through your chakra network. You'd be in a permanently transformed state."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, "Whilst I'll definitely be questioning you on your research later, it's obvious that the second option is the most beneficial. Something tells me there's more to it. What would happen to the soul fragment of yours when the seal is broken?"

Beatrice tightened her hold momentarily before forcefully relaxing her grip on Tayuya, "One of two things can happen. Either my fragment returns to me and is rejoined, or it consumes the patient entirely before breaking apart from the strain."

"But, the seal's deactivated right now, isn't it?" Tayuya asked and Beatrice nodded, "So, can't we just leave it, or seal it away like that emo guy did?"

Beatrice raised an amused eyebrow at the 'emo guy' comment before shaking her head, "The seal's chakra is already spread throughout your own network, not contained within the seal itself- which is only acting as a conduit. Once Orochimaru realises you live, it would theoretically be easy to reactivate, assuming the soul fragment doesn't do it on it's own accord. I have no idea how sentient the fragment is."

Tayuya grimaced, "Fuck. So it's either of those two options, right? Then I'll obviously go with the second one. Sure, I'd look fucking strange but at least I won't have that snake guy in my head."

Beatrice flinched, "But.. you could die.." she mumbled protectively, her hold tightening in worry.

The sound Kunoichi would have swooned at the cute look on her doctor's face if it wasn't literally a life or death situation they were talking about, "I'm a Kunoichi, Beatrice. There's always a possibility I'll die." she said gloomily before gaining a smirk and saying, "Besides, I'm one hell of a strong bitch. A little soul war or whatever in my body ain't going to take me down!" she remarked confidently, getting a small giggle from Beatrice.

"Very well. It is best we do the procedure quickly, so I would suggest to do it tomorrow." Beatrice stated before glancing to the Hokage, "Is there a room available for us to stay temporarily? Preferably away from most? I would prefer to do the procedure in a place of comfort."

The Hokage nodded, "Yeah, I know a few apartments that are empty. Usually keep em' that way for emergencies anyway. For now, we'll have you two stay in a hospital bed whilst an unfortunate clone of mine gathers the necessary paperwork for the apartment. I'll get an ANBU to escort you there." she paused for a moment before looking down at the shattered remains of her desk and idly glancing at the strange occupants of her room- a travelling doctor that seemed only be a young teen, a former wanted criminal and the copy ninja himself.

"I need a fucking drink.." she muttered before realising she'd hidden her sake in the very desk she smashed, the remains of which had been soaking the floor during the entire conversation.

Once more, the citizens of Konoha shuddered when they heard the violent scream of their Hokage echo through the village before yet another earthquake happened.


	3. Chapter 3

Honeybee _Chapter 3_

Tayuya and Beatrice were quickly escorted to Konoha General Hospital via a flustered Kakashi, who was still whimpering about his Hokage's use of force and something about a destroyed orange book that she'd confiscated. The two girls wisely decided not to question it, as an unstable nin was a dangerous one.

Upon arrival, Kakashi explained the situation to a rather stern looking receptionist and the two were given a private room for examination. After the two girls settled in the room, it was only a brief five minute wait before Tsunade joined them in the room, followed by Kakashi who had lowered his eye protector to reveal a _Sharingan_ of all things.

"Err, I get why _she's_ here," Tayuya said, gesturing to an amused Tsunade, "By why the hell's this silver-haired nutjob still here? He gunna perv on me with the damn Sharingan or something?" Kakashi glared at the girl, but stopped and faltered slightly when Beatrice stood in front of her protectively, a far more terrifying glare on her pale face.

Tsunade just chuckled at the look of bafflement on Kakashi's face, "Actually brat, I'm here to check the extent of your injuries and see what technique your golden-haired friend uses on you." for some reason, this made the two girls blush. Well, she knew Tayuya was blushing, but the yellow tint that was growing on Beatrice's face was _probably_ blushing. She had no idea why it showed up in that colour, however.

"Err.. Right. Just.. err, check my injuries first." Tayuya muttered, desperately trying to avoid the embarrassment that would follow when Beatrice revealed her technique. Kissing alone in the woods was already embarrassing as hell, doing it in front of _Senju Tsunade_ was downright harrowing.

Tsunade just grunted and activated her _Diagnostic Palm Jutsu-_ a smaller variant of the _Mystical Palm Jutsu_ which was used specifically for analysing injuries without inserting chakra. It was used primarily in patients where it was suspected they'd have a negative or allergic reaction to medical chakra. However, it tended to be useful in assessing patients who may have issues to their chakra network, as inserting any foreign chakra may cause excess damage.

The results she found were... disturbing at best.

"Cellular degradation from lower ankle to high tibia in both legs... chakra network pierced in same areas...evidence of internal bleeding in several areas that's been recently sealed... It's a wonder how you're still _alive_ let alone conscious." Tsunade muttered in awe at a rapidly paling Tayuya who had _yet again_ been told the severity of her injuries in a far worse manner than before.

Tsunade turned to a stoic Beatrice and merely asked, "How?" in response, she noticed Beatrice's surprisingly golden lips curl into a smirk and Tayuya's paling shifted to embarrassment for a reason.

Rather than responding to Tsunade's question, Beatrice sensually walked over to a flustered Tayuya and purred into her ear, "Come to think of it, I've gathered enough chakra to create your next treatment. I've given this one a rather unique aroma, would you care to try?"

Much to the shock of the other two Shinobi in the room, Tayuya responded by hungrily wrapping the girl in a passionate kiss, much to Beatrice's shock. The young healer had only been attempting to tease her patient and this was definitely not what she had expected.

Tayuya almost moaned at the taste and felt her arms wrapping around her doctor and pulling her closer into the kiss, she felt her lips twitch into a little smile during the kiss as Beatrice responded in a similar manner, pulling their bodies closer together and letting her hands rest on Tayuya's shoulders. She'd decided to just get it over and done with and avoid the awkwardness but had quickly lost herself to the sensation. The former Sound Kunoichi almost pouted when Beatrice pulled back, but smirked instead when she saw the flustered and dreamy look on her doctor's face. As usual, Beatrice's lips had lost their golden hue and shifted back into a normal pale shade instead, still, there was a small little smile tugging on her lips now.

Tsunade glanced at Kakashi who was blushing and surprisingly also had a quizzical look on his masked face, "So, Kakashi? What'd you see with your Sharingan?"

Before he could respond Tayuya angrily yelled out, "I knew it! The damn guy was perving on us with the fucking Sharingan!" Beatrice and Tsunade chuckled in amusement, because technically that was exactly what he did.

Kakashi's blush increased tenfold and he _attempted_ to maintain a professional tone of voice when he responded, "Er.. No. I was assessing your.. abilities with it. Yes." he straightened up and pointedly ignored the smirks he was getting in response, "From what I was able to see, you.. transferred.. a chakra-enhanced fluid of some kind that was absorbed into your patient's chakra system." he paused again before breathing in amazement, "I can literally see your chakra network flaring and restructuring itself. It's.. fascinating." he admitted. Normally only the Hyuga clan's Byakugan was the only dojutsu that was able to peer into a Shinobi's chakra network, but by following Beatrice's technique, he was able to witness it.

It was Beatrice's turn to smirk, "Arigato. That specific treatment is targeting her chakra network in both her legs and the area where her curse mark is located." she turned to Tayuya, "It's advisable for you to remain relatively stationary until the next treatment where I'll be removing the curse mark," in response the the audible groan she received from her patient, she smiled a little and took off her patchwork backpack and reached towards a specific pouch- pointedly ignoring the tensing of Kakashi and Tsunade, "My... abilities allowed me to locate this. It was coated in a rather large amount of your chakra."

Tayuya gasped in surprise and held the item reverently, "My... my flute.. you found it?! But... how did you repair it? It was sliced by the wind-fan-bitch!" she muttered in awe, keeping the flute close to her heart.

Beatrice raised an eyebrow at the 'wind-fan-bitch' nickname and responded, "That healing technique is not the only technique I possess. One of my abilities allows me to secrete a resinous material that was able to bind the broken pieces together. I was waiting for it to fully harden before handing it back to you in return."

Tsunade eyed the small yellow parts in the flute where the pieces had obviously been rejoined together. "Hmm. Judging by your clan's affliction, I'd say that's a form of propolis, yes?" Beatrice nodded with a slightly surprised expression, "I have seen a few Kamizuru clan members in my time. There's a jutsu that's similar, but it doesn't involve secretions." she said with a suspicious look in her eyes.

Beatrice merely stared at her and answered, "Among the Kamizuru clan members, I was unique." she muttered before speaking oncemore, "Now, is there anything else you require, Tsunade-sama?"

Tsunade glared at her for the blatant change in subject but shrugged it off for now. "Yes, infact. Your lips changed from their golden colour after using the technique. I assume that implies you're unable to use the technique right now?" Beatrice nodded slowly, "When are you next able to use it? There's plenty of patients here that would benefit from such a technique."

Tayuya raised an eyebrow at that question. The Hokage had just met Beatrice and she was already asking her to use it on Konoha citizens. Was the old hag really _that_ trusting? She glanced at Beatrice and saw her doctor had narrowed her eyes slightly. Whilst she knew that Beatrice's technique could only be used on her during specific times, the former Sound Kunoichi knew there was far more to the technique than meets the eye.

"I shall be unable to use the technique for quite some time, as I need to constantly alter it in response to the changes in Tayuya's body chemistry and immune system. Until she is in the final stages of her treatment and after the curse mark is removed, I shall be unable to attend to any other patients, barring any life or death situation." she answered evasively and Tsunade nearly groaned in annoyance. She felt like she was in another council meeting.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "And if there _was_ a life or death situation occurring?" he questioned.

Beatrice responded after a short pause, "I would require an excessive amount of natural energy nearby and would be knocked unconscious for a short time afterwards. For that time, it would be unsafe for anyone except the patient to be near my body." she answered monotonously, the usual cheer lost from her voice in favour of straight information.

"Eh? Why would we need to stay away?" Tsunade inquired. It had been accepted that her technique required natural energy somehow and she was definitely planning on questioning how exactly she could absorb the volatile substance, but this question was far more important currently.

Beatrice sighed and the buzzing undertone of her voice deepened in intensity, "You shall have your answer during the curse-removal ritual tomorrow." she answered in what the others could easily tell was annoyance before the buzzing sound calmed and she responded, "The healing technique has exhausted my body and I must rest. I do not wish to answer questions at this time."

Tsunade glared at her for blatantly dismissing her _again_ and sighed, "Whatever. I'll meet you here at 0800 tomorrow. Kakashi's team shall be meeting you all at that time, too." she muttered before gesturing for Kakashi to stand guard outside. Before leaving she added, "When you're healed after the curse-removal ritual, we'll begin interrogations." with that, the two girls were left alone once more.

Tayuya stared at Beatrice for a long moment before shrugging and slowly moving to the side. At the girl's quizzical stare she snorted in amusement, "Come on, bee-girl. Can't have you resting on a fuckin' chair." she muttered, a slight pink tinge on her cheeks.

Beatrice giggled in response and nodded before joining her, "Thank you, Tayuya." she muttered softly without a trace of her normal buzzing sound before she quickly fell asleep.

The former Sound Kunoichi stared at the sleeping form of her.. doctor/friend/close person and sighed. ' _Beatrice. Just.. what is this? Why have you been so damn kind to me, even after hearing what I've done?'_ she thought in confusion as her mind replayed the events of today, ' _Even after hearing what I did with Orochimaru, you're still here.. resting against my side._ ' seemingly in response to her thoughts the sleeping Beatrice nuzzled closer and sighed with a content smile on her face. Tayuya sighed and put the blanket over the two of them before wrapping her arms around the girl.

Tayuya fell asleep quite quickly after that.

Outside of the room, a glum Kakashi sighed at the annoyance that was going to be plaguing him in the future. He'd read Shikamaru's report of the Sasuke rescue mission and his report on Tayuya had been particularly worrisome. Still, he couldn't help but furrow his brows in confusion. His thoughts drifted to the other girl. Beatrice. That technique had been unlike anything he'd ever seen in a healing ability, let alone all the other various things he'd noticed. The strange tone of voice, the ability to sense senjutsu chakra, the propolis secretions. It was all a mystery to him, one he knew needed to be discovered quickly.


	4. Chapter 4

Honeybee _Chapter 4_

Tayuya's eyes fluttered open as she returned to consciousness after a deep rest. She flinched slightly when she felt a presence next to her, nuzzling against her side. With a blink, she shook away the sleepy thoughts and glanced at the person next to her, only to breathe a sigh of relief when she discovered it to be Beatrice.

Try as much as she might, it still felt weird to wake up so... relaxed. It wasn't normal for her. She was used to waking up in a hostile environment- her quarters in the Sound Village. It was _never_ safe there. Every word, every thought, every _movement_ was watched by Orochimaru. Feeling safe when there was a clear sign that you were under a genjutsu. No doubt one of the snake sanin's sick experiments.

A slight feeling of movement on her side and Tayuya's thoughts shifted away from her past. She lay her gaze on Beatrice, whose head was currently resting on the former sound-nin's chest. What baffled Tayuya the most was how _relaxed_ she felt around the golden-haired doctor. At first, she'd assumed her relaxation was partially due to the treatment containing some form of sedative, but even after a long period of time after a treatment, she was still rather comfortable with the girl. It was all so new to her. The closest she'd been to a girl before was with a sound-nin named Kin, but even at that the two were merely acquaintances.

Beatrice shifted again, nuzzling her head ever so slightly as a small unconscious smile grew on her golden lips.

Tayuya sighed. To be honest, she was rather nervous about the whole situation. This was all new territory for her. She was currently in the middle of _Konoha_. The place where she'd helped Orochimaru assassinate the previous Hokage. Yet, she felt _safe_ , simply because Beatrice was there with her.

"Mmm... Muh.. Morning..." Tayuya heard, her mind instantly realising the familiar bell tone as Beatrice. Curiously, her voice had a slightly stronger buzzing undertone.

"Ah, damn. Sorry. Did I wake you?" the former sound-nin asked, shifting a tad guiltily. Beatrice looked so relaxed when asleep.

Beatrice shook her head, mutter a 'Nuh-uh' and shifting a tad. The girl seemingly froze for a moment as her eyes finally snapped open and she jerked up with a golden blush, "Ah! Sorry. I didn't know where I was resting."

Tayuya smirked, a rather evil grin growing on her face. It was fun to see Beatrice flustered.

"Really? You seemed rather comfy." Beatrice sputtered in response and stuttered a denial, her blush increasing tenfold. "Bah, don't worry about it." Tayuya murmured, as she thought, ' _Besides, it felt rather good to be honest.'_

"R-Right.." the golden-haired doctor mumbled, the blush still present, "Anyway, are you feeling ready for the curse removal ritual today?"

Tayuya nodded hesitantly, "Yeah. Kinda surprised though." she admitted, getting a raised eyebrow from her doctor, "I mean, you just walked into my life and suddenly it's like all my problems are solved. It's kinda strange, to be honest."

Beatrice's cheeks tinged golden again, "U-Uh, arigato..." she mumbled nervously, her eyes darting away.

The red-headed Kunoichi grinned at the adorable look on the girl's face before she frowned slightly when the blond kept looking away, "Hey? What's wrong?"

"It's..." Beatrice sighed and seemed to steel her resolve before continuing, "I am worried. My... abilities aren't the most... friendly at the best of times. I've had many patients leave me right after I reveal them." she looked away again and mumbled, "I'm afraid you'll leave."

Tayuya blinked. She wasn't expected _that_. "Uh.. Bah I'm not good with this stuff..." she mumbled, getting a small giggle from the girl, "Listen, at this point I wouldn't care if you were some crazed killer or something. You saved my fucking life, Beatrice. Plus, remember, I told you about my team. I doubt there's anything worse than that."

Beatrice merely stared at her for a moment before nodding slowly.

For a moment, the two girls merely stared at each other. Tayuya's brown eyes gazing into Beatrice's golden ones. The sound Kunoichi had to marvel at the innocence flickering on the doctor's face. She looked so sweet.. those lips..

The sound of knocking interrupted their moment and Beatrice quickly scampered out of the bed, a blush on her face.

Tsunade walked in, a scowl on her face as she was followed by Kakashi and two younger shinobi that Beatrice didn't recognise.

But, Tayuya definitely recognised one of them.

"YOU! You're the rat! The one with the wind-fan-bitch!" Tayuya yelled angrily, pointing a finger at one of the younger shinobi. A male around their age that seemed entirely nonchalant about the entire situation. He had black spiky hair and.. well, he was overly unimpressive.

The other one, a girl with pale eyes and violet hair, seemed incredibly quiet, if not slightly surprised by the loud reaction and crass language. Apart from being rather well-endowed for her age and having a unique colouration, she seemed to be trying to blend into the background.

Beatrice cocked her head to the side, a rather small scowl growing on her lips, "Tayuya, is this boy the one who hurt you?" she asked sweetly. _Too_ sweetly.

The boy paled slightly at the tone before shrugging and answering before Tayuya could, "Just following orders. She was an enemy at the time... Ugh, this is such a drag..."

"Even now you're STILL lazy. I can't fucking believe your bullshit shadow tricks. Why the fuck are you even here, rat? Get the hell outta here." Tayuya glared at the boy. Honestly, she didn't really care about his presence, but was more annoyed that they'd interrupted whatever was about to happen with Beatrice. Sure, she was pissed that he managed to hold his own against her for so long, but if it wasn't for the wind-fan-bitch jumping in at the absolute worst moment, she would have crushed the worm easily. It was only a matter of time.

Tsunade glared at the patient, " _Shikamaru_ is here along with Hinata and Kakashi to tag along for the curse-removal ritual." Tayuya just scoffed and glanced away, whilst Beatrice nodded, introducing herself before speaking to the Hokage.

"We are ready for the ritual. Is the room ready?" when she received a nod from the Hokage Beatrice quietly added, "Is it near the forest?"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow suspiciously at that remark whilst Kakashi and the two Genin stared at Beatrice in confusion, with Tayuya quietly wondering why she needed that.

"It's in a small district near the southern wall, yes. Why do you ask?"

Beatrice smiled ever so slightly, "My ability is powered by gathered senjutsu chakra. My... method of gathering is easier to use near forests."

The Hokage nodded slowly, deciding that it'd be best to simply see the technique at first hand. Without another word, she gestured for the two girls to follow her, with Kakashi and the two Genin keeping a close eye on the two.

When they arrived, Beatrice quickly entered and began opening up all the windows and left the door open, leaving a wheel-chaired Tayuya at the door for a moment. The apartment itself wasn't furnished yet apart from a simple double-bed in it's single room, with a rudimentary kitchen on the side. Several more ANBU had gathered, with several guarding the door whilst others stood in the corners of the room's interior.

"Alright, brat. What do we need for this ritual?" Tsunade inquired gruffly, already annoyed from Beatrice opening up so many windows. It reduced the safety of the operation.

The honey-haired girl pushed along Tayuya to the double bed, allowing her to sit down before she spoke up, "First, I'll need you to lay on your stomach. From what I saw earlier, your curse mark is on the base of your neck, yes?" Tayuya nodded mutely and lay down as instructed, trying to hide the shiver of pleasure she felt as Beatrice sat atop and straddled her, her small hands inspecting the curse mark.

Beatrice paused in her ministrations and turned to the.. flustered group of Shinobi staring at her. She blinked. Why were they..? Oh. She blushed ever so slightly and attempted to ignore a few thoughts running around her mind as she focussed.

She held up a hand, "As a Kamizuru, my abilities are naturally revolved around the use of bees. Even though I do not possess the training, I have knowledge of many of their techniques. However... I do not _summon_ them, as you shall see."

Much to the surprise and horror of the Konoha Shinobi, a large bee seemingly pushed itself out of the pale skin of Beatrice's palm, easily three times as large as a regular bee. It's fur was the normal black and golden stripes, but the stinger was far thinner and much longer than normal.

"Hmmm... Similar to an Aburame, no doubt.." Shikamaru muttered, but soon regretted it as both Beatrice and the bee immediately buzzed angrily and a rather large amount of killing intent flooded the room, focussed right on Shikamaru.

"I am _**NOT**_ like the Aburame!" Beatrice hissed, her voice almost smothered by the buzzing undertone, "Those.. fiends enslaved the various insects of the area! Dominated them with their chakra!" she paused before sighing, noticing the tense atmosphere and the many weapons that the Shinobi around her had suddenly brandished, "Apologies. The Kamizuru have... _history_ with the Aburame and I appear to have inherited such feelings." she glanced over to the lavender-haired girl and spoke, "You are a Hyuga, yes? Please use your Byakugan on me."

Tayuya had shifted slightly to stare at her doctor. The revel of Beatrice's ability was.. rather terrifying, but the verbal asskicking she did on the shadow dude was fucking _hot_. Still, she found that she wasn't nearly as surprised at her doctor's abilities as she expected given Beatrice's comments beforehand. The honey-haired doctor had been nothing but sweet to her. Weird abilities or not, she didn't mind. She offered a small little smile at Beatrice and the girl beamed at her happily. The two seemed to forget the moment again and stared at each other.

A soft gasp snapped them out of their moment. It was Hinata. She was staring at them with wide eyes. More specifically, she was staring at Beatrice. Almost fearfully.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at hearing the soft-spoken girl gasp like that, "Hinata? Is there something to report?"

Hinata seemed to snap out of her trance and nodded to the Hokage, "Y-Yes, Hokage-sama. It's just..." she paused for a moment as she deactivated her Byakugan, seemingly trying to sort the information before speaking, "Her entire system... it's so different."

 _That_ got the attention of basically everyone in the room. "What do you mean?" Kakashi inquired curiously.

"There's... simply n-no way she can be h-human. It's like I-I-I'm staring at a beehive. There's... so many tunnels... So many b-bees. Various sizes and stages of growth. I can.. I can see them _moving..._ They have unlocked chakra systems, Hokage-sama... It doesn't make any sense... She shouldn't even be able to move with t-that system.."

The group all stared at Beatrice with wide eyes.

The girl merely nodded, her expression blank as she explained, "I was born this way. Unique among the Kamizuru."

Tayuya merely stared, her mouth agape as she muttered, "Beatrice.." said girl's eyes snapped to her and the former sound-nin almost flinched. Beatrice looks so worried. It was clear why. The girl was nervous about her reaction. "I don't mind. Hell, that's fuckin' badass."

It was at that moment, when the Shinobi present realised that Beatrice's tears were also golden yellow.

A grunt from the Hokage snapped the two girls out of their moment, where Tayuya had been smiling and Beatrice letting her tears flow. They glanced at a deadpan Hokage, "We ain't got all day here. Come on. Let's get this curse mark off and we'll discuss your abilities at another time. If it works, I've got another patient that will need this treatment." Beatrice raise an eyebrow at that piece of information before she nodded slightly and turned back to Tayuya.

"Are you ready, Tayuya? We can still back out if you prefer."

The former sound-nin just grunted, "It's fine. I'm ready. Let's get this done."

Beatrice nodded and sent a metal command to her bee. Before anyone could react, the bee crawled onto the curse mark and stung with it's modified stinger, which glowed with a slight golden hue. Tayuya let out a grunt of pain as the curse seal reacted, spreading across her body and flooding it with senjutsu chakra. Her familiar horns grew on back on her head and the skin darkened, but the pain didn't recede. The former sound Kunoichi shut her black and yellow eyes in pain as the feeling spiked. She vaguely recognised Beatrice tilting her head slightly and mashing their lips together before Tayuya fell into a blissful unconsciousness.


	5. Chapter 5

Honeybee _Chapter 5_

Beatrice hopped off her position atop the now-slumbering Tayuya and glanced over at the occupants of the room. Shikamaru was staring at her with wide eyes and a tinge of pink on his cheeks, Hinata's cheeks had the odd resemblance of Tayuya's hair colour and Kakashi was giggling.  
She didn't know which one was more disturbing. So she ignored it.

"Tayuya will be unconscious for several hours."

The Hokage nodded. Much to Beatrice's surprise, the 'Legendary Sucker' had been surprisingly comfortable witnessing the use of her ability so far, "Right. And the technique? Did it work?"

Beatrice nodded, "It's working. I can feel my fragment inside. Orochimaru's fragment has been destroyed. My fragment is currently working on removing any excess influences."

Shikamaru spoke up when the Hokage decided to stay silent, "Will she always look like that?" a frown was on his face.

Beatrice scowled at his vibrant distaste, "Most likely." she said curtly, not bothering to give him more information. To the honey-haired doctor, she didn't like Shikamaru much. He was far too lazy in his ideals. Not to mention he injured _her_ Tayuya. She resisted the urge to send her bees to attack in retaliation. Whilst she had not taken the vow of benevolence as many doctors had, she knew that attacking would serve no purpose. Right now. Plus, Tayuya didn't seem focussed on revenge.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at the 'angry buzzing' she heard from Beatrice following her answer to Shikamaru's question. Whilst the small scowl on the girl's face had been wiped off pretty quickly, the noise had persisted for quite some time before dulling.

"We'll need to discuss the matter of Tayuya's interrogation. Even I can see, she's nearing the phase for physical therapy. No doubt that the senjutsu chakra will accelerate her healing." the Hokage spoke, remembering a time when she'd treated Jiraiya. The toads had mentioned as much at one point and the effect was quite visible when she'd healed him.

Beatrice seemed to narrow her golden eyes for a moment before nodding, "As per the medical laws in reference to treatment, I shall permit basic questioning upon the return of her health. As expected as a newly inducted ward to the head-of-house, I shall attend. This is non negotiable." Tsunade almost scowled. As it would appear, she wouldn't be getting any answers from the brats until the redhead had been fully healed. She simply offered a gruff nod.

She turned to the others, "Kakashi- stand guard outside until the girl's awoken. Shikamaru, Hinata, your mission is complete. Thank you." the lazy Jonin and younger lazy Chunin both grunted and nodded before departing their own ways, whilst Hinata nodded respectfully before quickly scampering away. It was clear that they were quite flustered by Beatrice's healing technique, no matter how much they hide it.

She dismissed her ANBU with a flick before turning to Beatrice once more, "I'll send an ANBU for you both tomorrow. We'll meet up and discuss affairs. Until then, have Kakashi come with you if you need to leave the room." without another word, she left.

She needed to get the hell away from that girl and her techniques. There was something incredibly off-putting about her.

Beatrice stared at the empty space where the Hokage had been, before a small frown grew on her currently pale lips. She knew for sure that the questioning that inevitably occurred wasn't going to be enjoyable. Like it or not, Konoha was a militarised village and if they wanted answers, they sure as hell got them. She'd simply spouted enough political machinations to corner them momentarily.

She glanced over to the slumbering form of Tayuya and smiled. Her patient had an incredibly strong mind to last so long during the operation. To resist such pain for so long before succumbing was remarkable at her age. Whilst she didn't enjoy inflicting pain on those who didn't deserve it, there was no other way to treat the curse mark. She'd never encountered a patient where the curse mark's tainted chakra had been so widespread before. Her little soul fragment had a rather tough time destroying the remnants of Orochimaru's mutilated fragment, but it had completed it's work and had now returned to Beatrice. Now, Tayuya would simply be unconscious for a few hours whilst her body adjusts to the new form and her chakra coils grow to accommodate the influx of senjutsu chakra.

She decided to focus on other things. Laying down beside the slumbering Tayuya, she closed her eyes and shut herself off from the world.

She opened her mind. Information flooded into her.

Konoha was indeed aptly named, she mused. The surrounding area was heavily forested and the environment was practically saturated in senjutsu chakra. At this moment, many of her younger forester bees were out gathering pollen and nectar whilst absorbing the natural energy of the surroundings. She was, after-all, effectively a sentient beehive with the mind of a Queen, albeit elevated to human thought and comprehension. She needed her bees -her children- to gather more pollen, nectar and natural energy.

She sent a few drones throughout the city. Mere honeybees without awakened chakra coils. After the Byakugan user had noticed her bee's chakra coils, she would need to send out ones that had yet to awaken them if she were to have the bees remain undetected.

She frowned when a bee was forcefully repelled from the Hokage building. As it would appear, the ones who built it had set up a fuinjutsu seal to prevent insects from entering and had thus inadvertently blocked her path. Most likely, the only exempt targets were insects belonging to the _Aburame._ For now, she would have a small select few occasionally gather from the nearby areas, with them noting any strange occurrences.

Other drones searched through the markets. A few had been attracted to a store named 'Yamanaka Flowers' and Beatrice had almost swooned. There were so many flowers! All perfectly maintained! Oh, she was _definitely_ going to visit in her human form. How could she not, after-all? It was so rare to see one take such perfect care of plant life. Not to mention, her form had such delightfully sensitive olfactory receptors.

Others had found a small run-down apartment that hosted a few well-maintained plants atop the window, yet had barely been able to access the apartment's interior before being forcefully expelled. More fuinjutsu seals, most likely. Much stronger this time and probably without the _Aburame_ clauses like the Hokage building. It was a miracle that any of the plants had been fertilised with such seals, as it was merely pure chance that the plants had grown just outside the perimeter.

She steered her children away from the _Aburame_ -oh how she hated that clan!-, Hyuga, Yamanaka and Nara clan compounds. Whilst the potential to learn was vast, she was still new in the area. She was unsure of any potential dangers. There would be other times to learn such information if she deemed it necessary. For now, she had to play it safe.  
Her bees spared a parting glance at the Uchiha clan compound before moving away. There were a great many anti-insect seals surrounding the perimeter, most likely accompanied by emotional wards blocking others from feeling a sense to explore the area. Without her human from entering, there was no way she'd be able to get her insects inside.

Some of her bees had returned with more pollen and nectar, rich with natural energy. She quickly directed them to store the excess. Her interior was functionally capable of generating honey, propolis, royal jelly and growing beeswax- the later of all which functioned as her internal cells and walls. At this point, her skin and general form were the only human parts about her, excluding her developed personality of course.

However, even she could tell that something was coming. Both she and her children could sense it. The feeling was just in the background. A whispering amongst the grass and an uneasy feeling throughout the air. Even now, she could feel it. In her travels, she and her children could sense many large sources of natural energy, but something felt _wrong_ about them. More than usual.  
She knew that the time for her hive to grow was rapidly approaching and this unsettling feeling in nature only accentuated this. She could feel that she would need it, lest she be exterminated. She needed to-

A feeling of shifting next to her she detached from her duties as hive queen and returned her consciousness to her body. As it would appear, many hours had passed during her assessment of the hive and the issuing of her commands. She blinked her eyes open, her honey yellow eyes staring deep into the black and gold eyes of Tayuya, who had seemingly just awoke.

Tayuya groaned as her eyes fluttered open. _Ugh_. That had probably been one of the most painful moments of her life. But... she was so _glad!_ She hadn't realised how oppressive Orochimaru's curse mark actually was up until this point. But now it felt like a massive weight had been lifted off her. Sure, she was probably stuck in her released form but she didn't really care. She knew just how to thank her doctor for this. She hid the playful little smirk that threatened to grow on her face.

She stared into the widening eyes of Beatrice and grinned, "Oh, this is GREAT, Beatrice! I feel so fucking alive right now!"

Beatrice merely smiled happily at her and nodded, "I'm glad I could help, I hope you're-"

She cut off mid sentence. Tayuya couldn't hold it any more, she kissed Beatrice, mashing their lips together in a primal display of passion. Beatrice quickly responded, kissing back with equal intensity and wrapping her arms around Tayuya's waist, pulling their bodies together with a surprising amount of force. Without a moment of hesitation, their lips opened slightly and their tongues danced, Tayuya moaning heatedly at the taste.

She pulled back and smirked at the utterly baffled look on her doctor's face. She could tell that Beatrice definitely hadn't expected that.

"U-Uh... What.. what just happened, Tayuya?" Beatrice cocked her head to the side, absent-mindedly licking her lips as a confused expression etched it's way onto her face. Tayuya actually felt heat on her cheeks at the sheer level of adorableness.

A smirk grew on her face, "I wanted to do that, so I did. You've been kissing me this whole time I thought I'd repay the favour," she teased in a sultry tone, enjoying the now-sputtering and blushing doctor's expression for a moment before she continued, "So, like my released form?"

She'd said it nonchalantly, but inwardly she was at least a tad worried about Beatrice's expression. With whatever the hell was going on between them, she knew this was something she wanted her doctor to at least be comfortable with.

So, when she saw Beatrice's eyes rake over her form and a golden blush immediately form on her cheeks as the girl muttered 'Absolutely stunning...' made the ex-sound nin as equally surprised as she was flustered. And she was incredibly flustered right about now.

Beatrice's eyes darted to her horns for a moment before glancing away. Tayuya smirked evilly.

"Go on. You can." was all she needed to say before Beatrice grinned and reached for the horns, eyes alight with almost childlike curiosity.

Tayuya shivered as a jolt of pleasure ran down her spine. Beatrice retracted her hand immediately, an embarrassed expression on her face. The Kunoichi _definitely_ didn't whine slightly at the loss of sensation. Damned sensitive horns.

Beatrice shook her head for a moment and her voice returned to the cool tranquillity she'd heard before being knocked unconscious when she'd explained things to the Hokage. It was remarkable how quickly the girl could shift from topic to topic.

"The technique worked perfectly. The curse mark had been removed in it's entirety and Orochimaru's fragment was destroyed by my own, both of which have left your body." her advisory tone shifted into a softer one, "I'm glad you're alright." she muttered as she snuggled back into the embrace, a little smile on her lips.

Tayuya nodded with a relieved expression. She breathed out a sigh and relaxed. She'd just dodged a massive curve-ball by Orochimaru. Who knows what the crazy snake sanin would have done with her had she returned to him. It was almost harrowing realising just what the curse mark had done, influencing her like that. She snuggled back into the embrace, her momentary burst of excitement giving way to fatigue from the day's events.

"Rest for now, Tayuya. Your body's been through a tough event. Senjutsu chakra or not, you'll need your rest for tonight. I'll heal you in the morning."

She didn't need to be told twice. She fell asleep quickly, a smile on her face as she replayed the events of today in her mind.


	6. Chapter 6

Honeybee _Chapter 6_

Shikamaru knew a good shoji player when he saw it.

Beatrice's moves had each been choreographed to a perfect degree when he saw her. Each movement had allowed her optimal vision of both her patient and the Konoha nin that were guarding her. She could easily switch from a soft and sweet personality to a dead cold tone designed to feed out information- an ability he'd only witnessed in older Shinobi that had been through several years of bloodshed.

That's not even including her other ability- which, judging by the similarities to the Aburame, will be difficult to fully interpret. The 'bee' that she'd demonstrated and used on the captured sound-nin had displayed several similarities between that of other species of insect- such as the longer stinger and larger size, not to mention that the bee was able to continue functioning after stinging its target.

Like any shoji player, he would need more information before deciding his next move.

In this case, he was searching for Hinata. The byakugan wielder had discovered several interesting traits about Beatrice that he'd like more information on, plus he'd like to hear her impressions on several pieces of information.

He spotted her in the distance, training with her team-mates.

"Ah, Shikamaru," Kurenai greeted as she spotted him walking up to their team. Hinata, Shino and Kiba paused in their movements to glance at him, "What brings you here? I expected you to be lounging about somewhere at this time of day."

Shikamaru frowned at her teasing smirk but replied anyway, "I'd like to speak to Hinata-san about something she discovered earlier." said Hyuga squeaked when everyone's attention focussed on her for a moment.

"I see..." Kuranai said slowly, "We do not hide things from eachother in this team. Unless this information is classified we would request to hear it."

Shikamaru nodded. Whilst the Hokage hadn't given an outright statement to keep their vistor's presence a secret, she had asked them all to be selective in who they tell.

"Very well," he turned to Hinata and made sure to speak softer as to not frighten her, "If you would be so kind, I'd like to hear more about what you saw in the resident doctor."

Kurenai frowned. She'd been informed on the travelling doctor and her patient/ward in the vilage and wasn't sure what to make of it. Considering her strange abilities and her abrupt arrival in Konoha, many of the higher ups were weary of her.

Hinata blushed slightly at the attention and twiddled her thumbs nervously, "W-Well.. I am s-still trying to u-understand how she can even move. T-There's no m-muscle in her b-body and her c-chakra... By Kami... I didn't even realise it before.."

Kurenai raised an eyebrow at that. Hinata's stutter had disappeared at the end.

"Her Chakra?" Kiba prompted, having been silent during this whole time, as he was busy trying to understand what's going on, "What, is it all weird like those sound guys we fought?"

Hinata shivered, "She doesn't _have_ chakra coils, Shikamaru-san. But, h-her bees do. It doesn't make sense. She's so... alive when around the patient, but m-my byakugan says differently..."

"...Bees..." the single word was muttered by a stoic Shino but the shaking of his fists indicated he was angered for some reason, "What is the name of this doctor?"

"Kamizuru Beatrice. She mentioned the Aburame and Kamizuru have history and was quite upset when I mentioned them."

Shino was silent for quite some time as he stared at Shikmaru, fists clenching and unclenching as his breathing slowed, "With good reason. The two clans were at war. Why? The Kamizuru did not accept our techniques, nor did we accept theirs."

Kiba raised an eyebrow, "Sheesh. Never heard of the Kamizuru. What happened?"

"They were slaughtered. Why? An outside force, not connected to the Aburame. Swept through the village and annihilated them overnight. Reports indicated an unknown poison delivered through multiple specialised senbon. Only a single person survived that night. A baby who was born on that day."

Kiba had wide eyes through the entire speech and they only widened further when an idea came to him, "You think this doctor is the baby?"

Shikmaru nodded, "Most likely. She displayed several interesting techniques and called herself unique among the Kamizuru. She was familiar with clan politics and was head-of-house, according to Hokage-sama."

"What techniques did she use?" Shino asked, being quite familiar with Kamizuru techniques.

Shikamaru paused as his mind thought back to the curse-removal ritual, "She was capable of removing curse marks. Capable of storing bees in her body. Bees appear modified in some way- different to regular honey gathering species. Didn't use handsigns or words to command them. Lips have healing properties. Apparently has a connection of some kind to nature chakra."

"...Removing curse marks..." Kiba muttered as he thought about the idea. "How could you know that unless... wait, this patient she was with... they have a curse mark?"

Shikamaru nodded, "Yes. Remember the loudmouth redhead from our encounters with the Sound Four?"

Kurenai gasped, "I remember your report on her. She was crushed by one of the sand-nin's wind techniques. With the blunt-force trauma and multiple lacerations, there's no way she could have survived."

"Her healing technique is apparently very intense. Use of mucosal contact to transfer a specialised serum of some kind which appears to be rapidly growing and repairing both cellular and muscular tissue." Shikamaru informed, a light dusting of pink on his cheeks.

Hinata blushed as she recalled Beatrice and the sound-nin. She hadn't missed how protective Beatrice had been regarding Tayuya. Hinata had seen med-nin who had to repeatedly heal the same person- none of them acted even remotely similar to how she did.

"She is correct in her statement of unique among Kamizuru." Shino informed stoically before continuing when Shikamaru gestured for more information, "Kamizuru employ the use of a mass-summoning contract with several bee-clans in the summoning dimension. Iwa-aligned. Typically Earth-release coupled with summons. Kamikaze strategies in which explosive tags are attached to swarms of bee summons are their speciality. Bees will release a large quantity of honey when killed in order to immobilise opponents. Can also create clones of beeswax."

Shikamaru furrowed his brow, "She was able to use beeswax to repair the weapon/instrument that the redhead used. Apart from that, her demeanour doesn't match that of a long-range kamikaze summoner like you suggested. She appears to prefer close physical contact with her patients and had no reaction when surrounded by Konoha nin as we transported her to the apartment. She did request an apartment close to the forest, however."

"Typical bee behaviour. Will stay close to rivals and monitor their movements if a threat to the hive is perceived. Close to forest suggests connection with abilities. If tracking would suggest areas with large quantities of pollinating plantlife." Shino mused, his voice flat and dead as always.

Shikamaru nodded his head to the group, "Arigato. That's all I need. I'll file our report of our ideas later." he paused then breathed a heavy sigh as his posture slumped, "All this discussion is so troublesome. I just want to relax.."

The group waved him off as he left.

Elsewhere, Tayuya groaned as she woke up. She'd been in and out of consciousness after the curse-removal ritual and now she was fucking _starving._ With a pained glance, she looked around to search for her Beatrice and found her standing at the window, staring off into the distance. What confused the former sound-nin however was that Beatrice wasn't even blinking. She actually seemed almost empty, but her _eyes._ They were almost glowing with such intensity Tayuya found herself drawn to them.

She let out a slight cough to get the doctor's attention and Beatrice flinched and shook her head, her golden eyes dimming slightly.

"Ah, Tayuya! I'm glad to see you're awake. How are you feeling?"

Tayuya went to speak but coughed when she found her throat was too dry. In an instant Beatrice had scurried over to the kitchen and poured a glass of water which Tayuya accepted and drank greedily.

"-Gah, thanks. Throat was so dry I couldn't even speak," Tayuya muttered getting a nod from the doctor who sat beside her on the bed, "I'm feeling much better now. Real hungry though. Like _real_ hungry. I swear I could eat a horse or three."

Beatrice giggled, a soft-bell tone that made Tayuya's hear flutter, "Well, we'll need to fix that won't we? How about we head out for lunch? I'm sure there's a decent restaurant somewhere."

Tayuya was about to nod, but then realised her appearance, "As much as I'd love to, wouldn't people freak out about seeing my appearance? I mean, I sure as hell don't appear friendly."

Beatrice blinked and cocked her head to the side, "Don't you ninja types have an illusion technique or something to cover your appearance?"

Tayuya nodded, "Yeah, but with my busted chakra I can't cast it. Fuck, it hurts to even _think_ about using chakra right now."

"Couldn't someone just cast it for you?"

Tayuya was about to deny that before she paused, "...Yes, I guess. But who the hell would do that? From what I saw from everyone's looks, I'm still on pretty thin ice right now. Doubt they'd cover me up."

Beatrice shook her head and glanced to the door, "You can come in now. I know you can hear us."

Before Tayuya could question what was going on, a tall man with silver-grey hair walked in, a small book clutched in one hand. _Oh_. She recognised him from the group that Tsunade brought with her. He was also the guy that was in the Hokage Building with them. Kaka-something.

"Kakashi-san. Would you be able to?"

Kakashi paused then nodded, "Yes. But I'd need to come with you." he said sternly, casting a glance at Tayuya. "Just to be sure there's no... unsavoury actions."

In other words, to make sure she doesn't run. Tayuya groaned at the thought. Yup, they _really_ didn't trust her. But right now, she didn't care. She was too hungry.

"Fine. Whatever, I'll be a goody two-shoes, just show us a fuckin' restaurant!"

Beatrice giggled at her wording and she gave the girl a secretive little smile. She loved that sound.

Kakashi, however, was less then amused and visually slumped in defeat.

"Somehow I know I'm going to regret this decision." he muttered, now pouting at the matching grins the two girls sported on their lips. It reminded him of the grin Naruto had when some fool made the life-threatening mistake of offering to pay for his ramen.

The bees flew through the air of Konoha, actively searching. Many of the humans of this area possessed large stores of chakra that had been honed by rigorous training.

Difficult.

One Kunoichi caught their attention, just as the Hive-Mother had shown earlier. Long blonde hair. Wide hips. Scent of pollen. Working position in gardening store. A human would undoubtedly find such features attractive. Probably. It wasn't like they knew.

They cared not about such things. They were interested in her chakra. High potential in spiritual chakra, but weak in physical chakra. Ideal.

However, the Kunoichi had no connection to the natural energy of the world despite her scent of pollen, thus detracting from her value. However, her store of flowers would be useful for gathering materials for Hive-Mother.

They pulled on the mental link to the Hive-Mother and she responded immediately, just as their loving Hive-Mother always did. They would always share everything with each other. Knowledge is power.

/ _Hive-Mother: Question? Request?/_

 _\\\Child: Affirmative. Located Kunoichi. High Spiritual Chakra. Low Physical Chakra. Feed?\\\_

 _/Hive-Mother: Describe appearance./_

 _\\\Child: Long blonde hair. Pale skin. Blue-green eyes. 153cm height. Teens. Scent of pollen.\\\_

 _/Hive-Mother: Negative. Observe. Appearance indicates Yamanaka Heiritage. Feeding will attract attention. Request sample of pollen from Yamanaka-store./_

 _\\\Child: Expression of understanding. Expression of love. Will report as necessary.\\\_

 _/Hive-Mother: Expression of gratitude. Expression of love. Terminating connection.\\\_

As Beatrice pushed along Tayuya's wheelchair, Kakashi noted that a smile now grew on her face where it had previously been blank. He did not know why, but the expression unsettled him. 


	7. Chapter 7

Honeybee _Chapter 7_

Beatrice was currently pushing the wheelchair of a disguised Tayuya as Kakashi guided them towards a restaurant. Much to the doctor's surprise, Kakashi had actually managed to match Tayuya's unreleased form perfectly. She had expected at least minor discrepancies. Of course, her patient had assumed the white-haired jonin was a pervert and had shown him just how well-developed her muscles really were.

She was _still_ giggling at the memory. Even though it had happened an hour ago. Kakashi was pouting. Tayuya had quite the victorious smirk gracing her lips. Beatrice decided she quite liked that smirk on her face. It looked...

"Beatrice, you there?" a familiar voice asked, snapping her out of her daze, "You stopped moving suddenly and you were staring at me." a bemused Tayuya spoke up.

Beatrice felt heat rise to her cheeks, "Ah.. sorry. I was remembering your hit earlier. I have to admit, you ninja types sure know how to throw a right hook."

Tayuya snorted, leaving an irate Kakashi to reply, "Maa maa... what I get for helping..." he muttered dejectedly and the two girls were sure he was pouting under that mask.

"So, which restaurant are we heading to?" Beatrice decided to ask. Knowledge was power, after-all. She didn't want to tease Kakashi _too_ much, regardless of how enjoyable it was.

Something about this made the copy-nin chuckle, "Oh... it's quite an... interesting place. It's actually owned by-" he paused for a moment when he heard a voice out in the distance.

The first time she heard the horrifying sound, Tayuya wondered if she could create a genjusu with her flute to cause such agony.

"Kakashi-sensei!" a shrill feminine voice called out from the distance.

"...Sakura-san, I didn't expect to see you today." Kakashi answered slowly, almost evasively, as the owner of the voice walked up to the group. She was a couple years younger than Tayuya and Beatrice, but she had the most peculiar shade of pink hair. So much that Tayuya believed it simply had to be natural. Nobody sane would dye their hair that shade. Tayuya narrowed her eyes slightly when she saw the remnants of tear stains on her cheeks.

"O-Oh, no.. Kaa-san though it'd be best if I got out for a while." she paused and glanced at Tayuya and Beatrice before glancing back to Kakashi, "Oh, who are they? Never seen them before... are they foreigners?"

Before Kakashi could speak up, Beatrice answered, "I'm Kamizuru Beatrice. My lovely patient here is Tayuya. We're here with Kakashi-san who is taking us to lunch today." her voice was soft and pleasant, but Tayuya could see a curious look in her eyes, as if she was sizing up the girl.

Sakura nodded with a smile, "I'm Haruno Sakura. Nice to meet you!" she paused before glancing over to Kakashi, "If you're heading over for lunch, can I come? I didn't have the chance to eat anything before."

Tayuya noted that Kakashi seemed to flinch for a moment before responding, "I'm... not sure that's a very-"

"Of course. We'd love to have someone else with us. I'm sure Kakashi-san wouldn't mind. He's paying, after-all." Kakashi slumped at Beatrice's words before sighing and nodding.

 _Oh._ Now she understood the look in Beatrice's eyes. She probably also noticed how nervous Kakashi was around the girl and was using her to gather information. Also, judging by the grin she was now sporting, her doctor was a lot more mischievous than she thought.

"That's great! Let's go!" Sakura said gleefully, pumping her fist in her hands. Tayuya found that rather odd. It reminded her of that jumpsuit-brat from her previous mission.

Kakashi lead the group to his chosen destination, not paying attention to the small talk that they were making with eachother. Sure, he nodded his head and murmured responses when necessary, but his mind was elsewhere.

The only reason he'd accepted Beatrice's request to take them out for lunch was that he was sure that Sakura would be staying at home. His little genin student was far too emotionally unstable to deal with the utter shitstorm that was Tayuya's presence in Konoha. It had only been through sheer luck that Sakura hadn't found out yet and with her chakra-enhanced strength and apt knowledge of the medical field, there was a high chance she'd try kill Tayuya before they interrogated her.

He focussed his attention back onto the girls when he finally arrived at the restaurant. It was an admittantly small store, with only a few outside tables and chairs whilst the actually kitchen was hidden in a store nearby, but the store had a rather unique secret.

"You sure this is the place? Looks more like a damn cornerstore to me." Tayuya spoke up, getting a giggle from Beatrice. That Kamizuru girl seemed almost infatuated with the former sound-nin. He couldn't help but wonder if she treated all her patients that way. Her method of treatment sure was rather intimate.

"Wait... is this..." Sakura muttered, before jumping in fright as a large man seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"Welcome to Akamichi Specialities! It's good to see you again Kakashi-san! And I see you've brought extras this time! Good, good! I'm Akamichi Saizu and I'll be your waiter today!"

Beatrice, Tayuya and Sakura's mind instantly thought a total of two things. One: Kakashi is weird. Two: they'll never _ever_ be comfortable around this... exuberant man. He was so full of youth it honestly frightened them.

Nevertheless, they sat down slowly (read: reluctantly) in the hopes to appease the walking ball of energy. The trio of girls had no idea how Kakashi could even be comfortable with such a man given what they've seen of his personality but somehow the ashen-haired jonin was chatting like they were best friends.

Tayuya had chosen to sit on the bench next to Beatrice, whilst Kakashi and Sakura sat opposite to them. The former sound-nin blinked when she realised something.

"Hey! This place doesn't even have a menu! What gives?"

The waiter merely gave a deep chuckle at the statement before responding, "Here at Akamichi Specialities we have no menus! Just tell us what you want and we'll make it, no matter how exotic! We cater to all kinds of tastes! So, what will it be today?!"

' _He's just like Lee and Guy-sensei...'_ Sakura thought in horror. She'd actually needed a moment for her brain to process words after hearing such sheer confidence and bravado laced into his speech.

' _...Anything, huh?_ ' Tayuya thought curiously before speaking, "Hmmm. I don't suppose you have Karaage Chicken? With soy sauce?" she practically drooled at the thought. Fried chicken was annoying rare in Oto and it had been years since she'd ate it. She had no idea of Konoha was similar to Oto in that regard, but she sure hoped not, or else she'd probably plead for Beatrice to take her somewhere else.

The waiter nodded, "We do indeed!" he wrote the order down on a small notepad. None of the people present had any idea just where the notepad came from, but decided to just ignore it in the hopes it'd lessen their headaches.

"I'll have a small salad. Nothing fancy." Sakura spoke and the waiter merely nodded.

Tayuya blinked, "Didn't you say you hadn't had the chance to eat before? Why the hell are you having something so small?"

Sakura shrugged, "I'm on a diet."

…

The former sound-nin decided she hated the pink haired kunoichi. Why an active kunoichi would ever starve themselves was beyond Tayuya. Hell, she didn't even attend Shinobi school and even she knew that dieting as a Kunoichi or Shinobi was pointless due to the sheer amount of exercise they go through.

"I'm just here for the friendly conversation." Kakashi said airily, getting deadpan looks from the others.

The waiter turned to Beatrice and Tayuya looked at her doctor curiously. She'd never actually seen Beatrice eat before due to her rather chaotic sleeping schedule recently and she was wondering what the girl preferred.

"...I don't suppose you have a large bowl of honey? I would quite enjoy that."

The group just stared at her. Kakashi with a blank look of curiosity, Sakura in repulsion at the idea of eating such a sugar-filled food and Tayuya in deadpan.

"Of course! In fact our current special today is all food served in a bowl!" the waiter replied cheerily, seemingly oblivious to the reactions from his customers as he spoke again, "I shall go and prepare your meals! It shouldn't be too long!" he quickly scampered off, disappearing in a blur of speed.

Tayuya finally broke down and laughed as she slung an arm around Beatrice, "I should have known, bee girl. Course you'd like honey." said girl didn't respond and was far too busy blushing at the close contact in public. Of course, Tayuya noticed this and smirked. She definitely wasn't going to let go now. Plus... she was rather warm.

Sakura decided it just wasn't worth questioning Beatrice about her choice of food. Judging by her patient's reaction this was actually normal for her. So, she decided to make conversation whilst waiting for the food.

"So, what do you do Beatrice? I take it you're a med-nin or something?"

Beatrice muttered a simple, "Or something.." before deciding to elaborate when gestured to continue, "I'm able to use a unique ability in order to heal patients." the she paused a blushed slightly when she remembered something, "Speaking of which... Tayuya, your next treatment is coming up soon..." she trailed off, blushing at the sharklike grin she got from her patient.

"Oh _really?_ " Tayuya breathed as she stared into Beatrice's eyes, oblivious to the curious looks from Kakashi and Sakura, "Would you like to _treat_ me, right here? I didn't take you for one who _treated_ in public."

Kakashi mused that he'd only seen such blushing from Hinata whenever she was around Naruto.

Sakura however didn't seem to get the teasing and had a curious look on her face, "Oh? Like a Kekkei-Genkai?" she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

Beatrice sighed, then turned to Tayuya, her previous blush lessening as she put her hands on Tayuya's cheeks, "Be careful what you wish for." she breathed softly before leaning forward and kissing her deeply, moaning softly when she felt her patient lean into her and deepen the kiss. When Tayuya believed Beatrice would lean back, she gasped in shock when she felt the doctor nibbling on her lips and before she knew it their tongues were fighting in a war that none of them wanted to end.

When they inevitably leaned back from the kiss, Tayuya's eyes opened and she stared into Beatrice's slowly opening eyes, as both of them had gotten lost in the moment and closed their eyes during the kiss. Glancing around, Tayuya smirked at the openly gaping mouth of Sakura and resisted the urge to punch a giggling Kakashi.

"I heal with a kiss." Beatrice muttered, her eyes bright with passions as she turned to look back over to Sakura.

"... I.. I can see that... But... err, isn't it.. ya'know.. weird? And... did you have to.. err.. use tongue?" Sakura stammered out. Even if Beatrice was telling the truth, they'd seemed to enjoy it a little _too_ much. It wasn't that she was against it, but it just looked so strange in public. She'd never seen a couple kiss with such passion before.

Beatrice blushed a little and glanced over to Tayuya, only to see the girl was looking at her with a similarly intense look to the one she herself had used earlier. She continued staring at Tayuya even as she replied to Sakura, "Not at all..." she answered both questions, before pausing as heat rushed to her cheeks, "Ah... I actually... umm..."

Tayuya grinned. Whilst inwardly her heart was beating far too fast to be normal her nature simply demanded that she tease her doctor, "Awww... my sweet little doctor is taking advantage of little ol' me...?" she said with a fake pout on her lips and overly watery eyes.

Kakashi decided to change his earlier statement. Hinata had nothing compared to the flustered look that Beatrice was currently sporting on her face. He was actually amazed the girl hadn't even passed out yet.

Beatrice decided to thank whatever god was out there when the food arrived the next second, sparing her from having to answer such a question. Taking a glance over to a smirking Tayuya, she somehow knew this wouldn't be the end of the girl's teasing. Though, she had to admit she was secretly looking forward to her next treatment. She'd never used her technique like that.

Tayuya burped loudly as she finished her meal, getting a giggle from Beatrice and a disgusted look from Sakura, not that the sound kunoichi cared about the latter. Kakashi was... well, it was pretty hard to judge what his reaction was, given that face-mask. He'd just sat there reading a strange book and giggling as the others ate. The former sound-nin had to admit, his giggle was nothing like Beatrice's. To be honest, she got the strangest urge to hit him whenever he giggled.

"Fuuuuck. I totally needed that. Damn good food." she groaned, patting her stomach in bliss as a contented sigh escaped her lips.

Beatrice nodded in agreement, "I agree. I'm actually quite curious as to where they got their honey. It's quite pure compared to most honey I've ate."

Sakura just shrugged. A salad was a salad. Nice, but nothing to speak about in her opinion.

Tayuya snorted, "Hell, there was nothing like this back in Oto, I swear. It was all-"

The redhead was interrupted by a loud screech, "WHAT?! YOU'RE FROM OTO?!"

Said screech originated from none other than Sakura, who was pointing an accusing finger at Tayuya, whose face had a look of mild surprise.  
If Kakashi wasn't wearing a face-mask, it would have been obvious that he was frowning. However, all that was noticeable of his reaction was a slight narrowing of his one visible eye.

She merely shrugged, "Yeah? So what? Left it before after that snake-bastard left me for dead. If it weren't for Beatrice here I'd still be laying in the middle of a fucking forest half flattened by fallen trees." she answered nonchalantly- honestly Tayuya was only mildly annoyed by the screech. Confrontations and accusations were practically breakfast talk back in Oto. Though, she had to admit the girl had a good set of lungs on her.

"... Do... do you know Sasuke-kun?" Sakura pleaded, her eyes wide with hope and Beatrice found herself resisting the urge to hug the girl. This new girl she'd just met had seemed so relaxed when she'd first met her, but now... the Kamizuru wasn't sure if she'd ever seen someone look so desperate.

Kakashi's hand idly moved towards his kunai pouch, just in case a fight broke out.

Tayuya, however, had a rather different action than what Beatrice and Kakashi were experiencing- she burst out laughing, almost falling to the floor out of sheer laughter if it weren't for Beatrice steadying her.

"You actually call that dickhead 'Sasuke-kun'?! Oh gosh, I haven't heard such bullshit in weeks! Yeah, I sure as hell know him. He was so fucking pathetic. Kept whining on and on about wanting us to 'give him power' just sheer moments after we'd kicked his ass to the curb, then had the nerve to claim he was some 'Uchiha elite'! Fuck, what a-"

Tayuya never saw the chakra-enhanced fist that was flying towards her.


	8. Chapter 8

Honeybee _Chapter 8_

Sakura's hit on Tayuya landed right on target, the chakra-enhanced fist sending the other pink-haired girl flying into the outer wall of Akamichi Specialities with a loud _thud_.Without pause or hesitation, Sakura charged at Tayuya's crumpled form and hefted her up by the collar of her shirt, glaring at the former sound-nin with contempt.

"You! You're one of the ones that kidnapped Sasuke! Tell me what you did with him! Now!" as it would appear, Tayuya was only partially conscious at this point and couldn't even mumble out a response. Her form shifted in the iconic display of a dissipating henge and Sakura's eyes widened at the sight of her appearance, "You... you're a demon... abomination.."

Sakura didn't notice the golden-haired doctor rapidly moving towards her until said girl's elbow impacted into her cheek and sent her flying into the nearby floor. Whilst Beatrice's strike didn't have nearly as much strength as Sakura's own hits, the girl definitely knew how to use her body weight effectively.

Beatrice didn't even spare Sakura a look and immediately turned to Tayuya's crumpled form on the ground, muttering worriedly as she surveyed the damage. She'd been hit in the centre of the chest with a punch that was far above average for one of Sakura's muscle capacity, so it was likely the girl was either using an illusion of some kind to hide her muscles, using a jutsu to enhance her strength, or injecting chakra with each strike. Whatever Sakura had used, the damage was bad.

"Bruising to centre of chest... likely broken several bones in ribcage.. cuts to upper shoulders, elbows and wrists from impact into wall... likely concussion from impact of skull on wall, yet impact of horns enough to prevent skull fracture..." she muttered, a frown gracing her yellowing lips. Just one hit had caused such high damage and she knew that Tayuya would need a quick dose of her healing kiss to repair any internal injuries that had occurred. The natural energy circulating in her transformed body had hopefully limited most of the damage, but she couldn't be sure.

She kissed her patient heatedly, pouring as much of her accumulated chakra into the kiss as possible. It would drain her heavily especially after just administering a dose to Tayuya not ten minutes earlier, but such a sacrifice was necessary in this circumstance. She gently moved Tayuya's now-unconscious form into a sitting position on an unbroken section of wall before returning her awareness to the aggressor.

From what she could see, Kakashi had moved to check on Sakura and the idea of such made her bees buzz angrily. That _worm_ didn't deserve treatment after landing such a blow on Tayuya. Sure, her patient was mocking this 'Sasuke' guy, but she did that to everyone- surely the Konoha girl would have realised that after being around her for so long.

Sakura stood up angrily, shoving Kakashi's hand away as she stood up and glared at the golden-haired doctor, "What the hell was that?! She's a criminal! She took Sasuke!"

Kakashi looked down at her and spoke before Beatrice could, "Sakura, I'm ordering you to _stand down._ You're not helping Sasuke by acting this way. You know the strength of your punches. You could have killed her then."

Beatrice spoke, buzzing heavily accenting her voice, "No. She attacked not only my _disabled_ patient but the ward of my clan. I will _not_ let this go unpunished." her golden eyes shone with intensity as the two doctors glared at eachother in hate.

"You know I can't allow that, Kamizuru-san." Kakashi responded forcefully, jumping in-between the two girls before a fight could break out.

In response, Beatrice felt many of her bees crawling out of her skin, drawing a sound of disgust from Sakura and a withdrawal of a kunai from Kakashi, not that it mattered to her. Although these specific children of hers were still called 'bees', they were essentially wasps, considering how different they were to her regular workers. Her hive didn't store a single type of bee after-all and it required only a mere mental command to have small subsections of her bees selectively breed into different forms over a few years. A technique she'd used excessively in the past.

Without waiting for a response, she sent a small group of the wasps to attack Kakashi. These particular wasps had quite the paralytic sting to them and it would only take a few to incapacitate the white-haired Shinobi. However, she wasn't expecting them to succeed.  
No, she was using them as scouts to assess her opponent. Her hive wouldn't have lasted for so long if she wasn't cautious after-all.

Kakashi rapidly formed handseals as he called out, "Wind Style: Air Bullet!" before releasing a large gust of wind against her children, disrupting their flight paths and forcing them back.

Beatrice glared, "Stand aside, Hatake-san. I do not wish to fight you. Haruno-san has injured a patient under my care. She is the one I must attack." her words would have sounded almost dead, if the other bees currently residing in her body weren't buzzing with agitation.

"Beatrice..." the voice was just a whimper, but she recognised the sound of her patient immediately. She didn't expect Tayuya to be conscious after such a hit and she diverted her attention to focus on her, only to be on the receiving end of a violent hit to the face courtesy of a triumphant Sakura.

"Don't underestimate me!" Sakura yelled angrily as she watched Beatrice crumple to the ground, only to gasp in shock when she saw the golden-haired doctor's neck had twisted at an odd angle and the buzzing sound she'd been hearing stifled into absolute silence.

She felt bile rising from her stomach. She hadn't mean to _kill_ her! Only to maim.. or seriously injure. She glared at a wide-eyed Tayuya who had tears running down her cheeks, " _You!_ You caused this! If... if it wasn't for you then maybe Sasuke would still be here! Then... then I wouldn't have met you or that girl..." Tayuya just stared at Beatrice's body, unblinking and unfeeling to the rest of the world around her.

"You know..." Sakura heard that familiar irritating buzzing sound again and she found a tingle of fear run down her spine, "I've had a relatively simple life..." Beatrice slowly stood up, her neck still twisted and her golden-hair tattered and littered with dirt, "I would travel to each of the lands and hidden villages... healing whomever I could and watching their faces morph into disgust at the most basic of my techniques..." pale hands reached up and she violently snapped her neck back into position, revealing large gashes on her neck where her skin had been torn from sheer force. Small bees coated in a thick honey seemingly oozed out of the wounds as her eyes shone with passionate intensity, her voice distorted by the rapidly increasing amount of angrily buzzing bees, " _And yet... when I finally meet someone who is actually comfortable with my_ _abilities, I'm forced to deal with some_ _**whining little bitch that thought that punching a disabled girl was perfectly normal!**_ "

Inside the Hokage building, Tsunade was currently sitting back and drinking sake whilst she watched a rather depressed shadow clone finish her paperwork for her, when an ANBU member came into her room without warning. The ANBU faltered slightly at the sight of the shadow clone before turning to her.

"Hokage-sama. Excuse me for interrupting, but there's been an... incident with ANBU Dog."

Tsunade swore under her breath. She just knew that something was going to happen eventually with the group of outsiders. That Kamizuru girl just kept poking her nose into matters that were far above her head.

"Report."

The ANBU bowed his head, "Thirty minutes ago, ANBU Dog was travelling around the village with Kamizuru Beatrice, a wheelchaired Tayuya and Haruno Sakura when-" he froze when Tsunade held up a hand.

This time, Tsunade didn't bother to hide her agitation and swore loudly. She'd expected her young apprentice to still be grieving after the Uchiha brat's defection to Orochimaru and likely Kakashi had felt similarly if he'd been fine with the two outsiders going outside their apartment. With her chakra-enhanced strength there was a high probability that Sakura would kill the two girls if she found out that one of them was from Oto, even more considering that the former sound-nin had been one of the ones that helped with the Uchiha's defection.

She gestured for the now-flustered ANBU to continue.

"... During a lunch at Akamichi Specialities, Tayuya spoke of her time in Oto and her... negative opinion on Uchiha Sasuke. Haruno-san responded by means of a chakra-enhanced punch to the upper chest, sending Tayuya into a nearby wall. Kamizuru-san managed to land a hit on Haruno-san before assessing the injuries on her patient. ANBU Dog attempted to dissuade fighting between the two, when Kamizuru-san attacked with... bees of some kind, which seemed to grow out of her skin."

Tsunade winced. She had neglected to have a formal interrogation in reference to Beatrice's abilities and mental state, which she was now paying for. Now, they had an aggressive unknown in the middle of the village fighting her own apprentice, whilst the subject that held information on Orochimaru's whereabouts may be in a critical condition.

She gestured for the ANBU to continue again.

"ANBU Dog responded by casting the Wind-Style: Air Bullet Jutsu, which proved effective in dissuading the bees from attacking. Haruno-san was able to land a strike on Kamizuru-san's jaw during a critical period of distraction, which appeared to snap her neck."

So her apprentice had actually killed the Kamizuru girl? That wouldn't be good. She'd need to cover up the entire incident and label the girl's death as some other cause. She simply _couldn't_ allow word of her actual cause of death to get out. It would cause an international incident. This would also make the interrogation of Tayuya much more difficult. She was unusually close to that Kamizuru girl, doctor-patient relationship or not.

She soon regretted allowing the ANBU to finish his report.

"Somehow, Kamizuru-san was physically unharmed and was able to force her neck back into proper place, prior to attacking with a much larger horde of bees than previously. The bees appeared to have paralytic properties and were able to paralyse both Haruno-san and ANBU Dog through repeated stings. After which, Kamizuru-san moved to leave with Tayuya's unconscious body. When my squad attempted to intervene, they were subject to the same treatment. I was barely able to escape."

Tsunade frowned. She'd underestimated the travelling doctor when she'd stated she wasn't trained in the ninja arts, thinking that the girl's unique kekkei-genkai and genetic makeup were purely limited to basic behaviour. . Of _course_ the bees would have unique properties, considering that they'd been able to destroy a damned curse mark and harvest senjutsu chakra. Sure, she'd gotten a minor report from Shikamaru speaking of his worries about the bee girl but it was based almost entirely on conjecture so she'd ignored it. Even in death, the Kamizuru clan found a way to give her a headache.

"What's her current location?" she inquired wearily. If the girl did indeed have the ability to paralyse Shinobi on the fly, they'd be forced to engage the girl at range- something that the Kamizuru clan was known to specialise in.

"She was nearing the north gate when my team attempted to intercept. Given civilian speed, she would be out of the village by now. We would move to intercept, but the bees have proven a viable defence. The use of long range jutsu also has the opportunity to injure the patient."

"Have ANBU follow at long-range distance only. Do not engage. Radio in their position every five minutes." the ANBU nodded and quickly departed before she called the front desk and the receptionist answered immediately, "Send for Team 8 and Team 10. I have a mission for them. Immediate start."

Beatrice was running through the forest, bridal carrying Tayuya as her bees surrounded them both. With her current position, there was no doubt that the Konoha Shinobi would easily catch up to her, but for some reason they were sticking back and following from a distance. Each modified 'wasp' could only sting a couple times before needing to return to the hive and rest, so there was little point at engaging them at such a distance when her bees were better suited for merely surveying the Shinobi's positions. Using the link to each of her bees, she'd be able to listen in on any of their conversations.

"E-Eh?! What the hell! That bitch hit me!" a familiar voice yelled out and Beatrice smiled at Tayuya's rather... blunt summary of all the chaos that happened. Even after suffering from a critical injury she was still able to respond with such passion. She had to admit, she admired that trait about her patient.

"I'm glad you're awake, but we appear to be in a bit of a... situation, currently..." Beatrice muttered awkwardly, a blush growing on her cheeks when Tayuya tightened her hold.

"I... I saw your fuckin' _neck snap_ , Beatrice. How the _hell_ are you still here?" Tayuya demanded, eyes glaring up at her. She flinched at the anger she could hear in her patient's voice. There was something else lacing her words, but Beatrice had no clue what it could be.

"Um... I.. err, I heal.. I'm not... ya'know, really human inside here... I don't really have a... 'bone' _to_ snap and hive material is easy to manufacture..." she stammered awkwardly, glancing away bashfully. She'd never had to explain something like this before. Patients never tended to ask about her other abilities.

A soft exhale of air was all Beatrice could notice before the anger seemed to fade from Tayuya's face and the golden-haired doctor swore she saw tears forming as Tayuya tightened her hold again and rested her head on Beatrice's chest.

"... Please don't leave me." the whispered words were so abrupt that Beatrice actually stopped running out of sheer shock. She glanced down at Tayuya with wide eyes, "When... when I saw you fall down.. I just... the idea of not seeing your smile again or hearing that silly giggle you do... I was so..."

"Tayuya..." Beatrice muttered as she felt her own tears well up in her eyes, "I'm sorry. About everything. I should never have taken you to Konoha. I thought I could keep you safe there, but one wrong move and-"

"No. None of that." Tayuya interrupted sternly, glaring at Beatrice even with tears running down her cheeks and a vulnerable expression on her face, "I don't care that you took me to Konoha. I don't care that I got hit by some banshee girl because of the shit I did back with Orochimaru. All I care about now is staying with you. Please, Beatrice. Forget all this Konoha bullshit. I just want you."

Beatrice stared at her with wide eyes, "You... you mean...?" she trailed off, unable to comprehend what she was hearing.

Tayuya gripped her tightly as she stared at Beatrice, "Even after I'm all healed, I want to stay with you. I don't give a shit about what we do or where we end up. I almost lost you today and I'm _not_ going to let that ever happen again."

"You... you really mean that?"

Rather than responding with words, Tayuya responded with a kiss that answered more than words ever could.


	9. Chapter 9

Honeybee _Chapter 9_

Inside the Hokage Tower, Tsunade was beginning a briefing with Team's 8 and 10 of the Rookie 12, excluding Yuhi Kurenai due to medical reasons that Tsunade had been asked to keep secret. Both groups were dutifully ignoring a rather depressed shadow clone of Tsunade's that was working on a nightmarish pile of paperwork. There was a projection on the wall next to them, depicting the files of Beatrice and Tayuya along with any information on their abilities.

"I'm glad you all got here on time. Listen, there's not much time for briefing but to be short I'm sending you all on a locate and capture mission of the highest regard." Tsunade informed as she gestured to one of the pictures, "I'm sure a few of you are familiar with the pink-haired demon girl. She was originally a member of the team that kidnapped Uchiha Sasuke."

One of the Genin, an Inuzuka by the name of Kiba spoke up, his eyes wide in alarm, "I don't remember her looking like _that._ By Kami, she looks like something outta my nightmares." he paused for a moment when his dog Akamaru barked a few words to him, "Huh? You say it looks similar to those demon body snatcher dudes we fought? Hmmm... yeah, sure looks like it. Something to do with the cursemark, right?"

Tsunade nodded, a frown on her face at being interrupted, "Correct. A few days ago the other person displayed on here, a girl who runs by the name of Kamizuru Beatrice was found outside the gates of Konoha, carrying a wounded Tayuya with her. In exchange for residency here and a pardon in her previous crimes, Tayuya was willing to give information on Orochimaru, but only after she'd been fully healed."

The group all nodded slowly, processing the information. The two teams had discussed Beatrice's exploits before when Shikamaru had told them about it. But, hearing about it from the Hokage was quite a different experience. Just why were they being sent on a mission now? Did something happen?

"As of 0930 this morning, Kamizuru Beatrice attacked Hatake Kakashi and Haruno Sakura over an... altercation. She was seen leaving the town's north gate at 0948, heading north. I've gotten some ANBU on watch, but they're unable to properly track or contain the two fugitives with their skills." Tsunade paused, ignoring the collective wince as the group no-doubt imagined an irate Haruno Sakura meeting one of the people that kidnapped Uchiha Sasuke. She gestured towards Beatrice's file on screen, "Your main opponent in this mission will be Kamizuru Beatrice. We have limited information on her skills but we've listed everything on screen. As you can see, her arsenal is highly versatile and those paralytic wasps have been infuriatingly smart at detecting our ANBU surveillance so far. With the current rate of attacks by the wasps, over 60% of the ANBU I've sent on this mission will be paralysed or worse by tonight. Supposedly Tayuya's injuries are preventing her from utilising chakra, but just incase I've also included a list of her abilities."

Asuma raised a bemused eyebrow. "And you believe that the tracking of Team 8 coupled with the abilities of Team 10 will be enough to take her down?"

Tsunade slowly nodded, a frown on her face as she thought about it, " Listen, I'd love to send more teams to help, but Teams 8 and 10 are the only ones available at immediate notice. It's only been an hour since Beatrice's departure and we need the information from Tayuya as quick as possible. It's well known that Orochimaru moves between bases periodically and we may miss our chance to find the location of that Uchiha brat." she turned to the Yamanaka, who had a rather impressive glare on her face after her own chide on Sasuke, "Listen, if you all can't capture her, I want Yamanaka Ino to rip the knowledge from her mind. I'm well aware that the Yamanaka have such techniques in their arsenal."

Ino gasped in horror. Whilst it was true that such a technique was known and taught, it was to only be on a last resort. The potential damage it could inflict on the target was neigh-unpredictable, as it depended on far too many factors to account for. In such cases, death was usually a blessing to targets hit by it.

Shikamaru frowned, "We're not sure what the release of the curse mark did to Tayuya, nor the effects of Beatrice's healing abilities on a patient's brain chemistry. Something could go wrong."

Tsunade nodded gravely, "I'm well aware. That's why I'm stressing that you _only_ use it if you have no choice. If the situation wasn't so dire, I'd never suggest it, but the information is far too valuable to risk."

Shino spoke up, "There could be another way." he informed slowly, getting a gesture of continuation from Tsunade, "Yamanaka Ino-san, do your mental abilities work on smaller animals?"

Ino nodded slowly, "Yeah, but there's no point. I don't see how..." she paused before grimacing as she caught on, "You want me to use it on the wasp-bee things."

"Correct." Shino nodded, "Bees will have knowledge on where hive -A.K.A Beatrice- is located. Why? Insects require rest. Report by Shikamaru-san stated that the healing bee used on Tayuya returned to the hive after use, rather than dying from using it's stinger. Can use knowledge of hive to locate Beatrice."

Tsunade nodded, but gave out a sigh when an ANBU jumped from the shadows and whispered something in her ear, "You'll have to discuss plans on the way there. I've just gotten a report." she paused as a frown grew on her face, "The surveillance ANBU were ambushed by a large horde of paralytic wasps. Over 90% of the assigned ANBU have been taken out."

Tayuya watched idly from her sitting position upon a fallen tree as Beatrice directed the veritable swarm of bees, the amalgamation of various species all working together to make... something. Whatever it was, she had no idea personally. They were words, line upon line of neatly written words circling one another in endlessly repeating pattern. To be honest, it almost resembled a summoning circle, if summoning circles were made out of beeswax.

Beatrice had been quiet to her after the kiss, more out of sheer awkwardness and embarrassment than anything else. She'd bashfully admitted that she didn't use her healing kiss during the heat of the moment, but the whispered words she'd spoken right afterwards still sent pleasant tingles down her spine.

" _...But I'd really like to do it again."_

The former Sound Kunoichi shivered at the memory, cheeks colouring the same shade as her hair. Because, to be honest, she felt the same. Kissing her doctor felt far more enticing than it should, but doing it for a reason other than healing? It felt so _naughty_...

And she couldn't get enough of it. She wanted Beatrice. She _needed_ Beatrice.

"...Beatrice?" she called out tentatively, heat rushing through her as she imagined the next kiss, the next moment where they lost themselves to each other.

Her doctor paused immediately and glanced to her, tilting her head in that infuriatingly adorable way that she always does. She walked towards her, seemingly unaware of just how much her pulse raced with desire. Bright golden eyes looked at her in worry, the awkwardness of the moment before forgotten in an instant.

"Tayuya? Are you alright? I'm just about done now, we should be good to go soon. Are you-"

".. It's fine... uhh, what's that you're working on?"

 _Damn it!_ She didn't want to ask about _that!_ She didn't really care what technique Beatrice was using to protect her, she just wanted to pull her doctor close and-

Beatrice giggled. That soft enticing sound. Maybe asking about the technique was a good idea, if only to hear that lovely melody again.

"Oh, that! Well, you know how you shinobi types summon up creatures to fight for you?"

She blinked at the question, but nodded slowly. She was a summoner, after all, so she had quite a bit of insight into the field. Even if her Doki were a little on the strange side compared to other summons.

"So, you're summoning up something to fight for us?"

Beatrice shook her head, Tayuya's black and gold eyes following the enticing sway of her doctor's golden hair, "Ah, not exactly. You see, when summons are not being used by a shinobi, they reside within an island completely separate to the shinobi world. Whilst it's possible to actually get there, it would take years even with the fastest of speed techniques." she gave a slow nod and Beatrice continued, her eyes blazing with sharp intensity, "The Kamizuru were all contracted to the Bees which resided there and would employ mass-summonings in combat, along with specially derived Jutsu which utilised the bees. _This_ summoning circle acts in reverse. When it's complete and activated, it will summon whoever stands in the circle to the summoning domain."

…

Tayuya was sure her eyes were wide as saucers when she heard those words uttered from Beatrice's sinfully sweet lips. There was just no way that'd work. Of course she'd heard about reverse summoning before, hell she'd used it a few times herself with her own summons to quickly change positions, but she'd never heard of a summoning array strong enough to transport not just the summoner but another passenger who wasn't contracted to the same summoning animals.

Yet somehow, she found herself just merely nodding with a slight smirk on her face. By now, she was coming to believe that when attempting to understand Beatrice, it was best to just go with the flow. There was clearly far more to her doctor than meets the eye.

"You're crazy." her words had been uttered as a joke and they both knew it. Her golden-haired companion merely giggling and nodding along, happy to be-

A gasp of horror escaped Beatrice's lips.

Elsewhere, Team's 8 and 10 were jumping through the treetops, with Asuma and Shikamaru taking the lead in this operation. Asuma suddenly held up a fist and the group stilled, all landing on a particularly large tree branch.

"What's going on, Asuma-sensei?" Choji asked, his voice taking on a rather serious tone, a stark contrast to his normally jovial personality.

Asuma's eyes narrowed, "We're close. Hinata-san, can you look for the ANBU survivors?"

Hyuga Hinata nodded hesitantly, her eyes flashing and veins pulsing, the signature activation of the Byakugan. Concentrating, her vision expanded and searched, looking for the signature erratic movements of insects and searching for any nearby chakra networks.

"T-There's a mass of b-bodies nearby, t-they're alive b-but unconscious..." she muttered, eyes narrowing as she focussed, "Some of t-them... T-Their chakra is low."

"Are there any bees nearby?" Shikamaru asked, grimacing at the idea.

Hinata shook her head, "N-not close, no. T-There are some in different directions, a-activated chakra n-networks, but there some w-wrong..." she trailed off, face scrunching up in confusion as she tried to figure it out.

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed, "What did you find, Hinata-san?" he was well aware that some of the bees had chakra networks for some unknown reason and her pausing at the mention of it was.. troublesome.

"T-They're so much.. b-brighter than usual. Some have f-far more than others, b-but the same overall n-network."

Shino nodded gravely, an almost audible frown when he spoke, "Was expecting something like this. Why? Kamizuru bees in larval stage known to drain chakra. Was strange that Beatrice's bees did not drain Hatake-san and Haruno-san, however."

Shikamaru grimaced. He'd read about the Kamizuru clan right after meeting Beatrice and was wondering if she was able to use such a technique. Still, he couldn't help but wonder _why_ she was draining chakra. It was clear that her bees could inject a paralytic substance, after all.

Hinata's eyes darted to a location and a soft gasp brought attention right to her, "There's a-a lone bee nearby. Looks t-to be scouting f-for opponents. It h-has an unlocked chakra network, b-but it doesn't seem to have d-drained anyone..."

Asuma nodded at the information as he took charge of the situation, his voice firm and commanding "Shikamaru, take lead. Shino, I need you to send a small amount of Kikaichu to Hokage-sama and notify her of the location of the wounded ANBU." the Aburame nodded and quickly dispersed a small group of insects, "Good. We'll be capturing that bee. Shikamaru, use Shadow Possession as necessary. Ino, mind-transfer when it's safe. The rest, I want you all on guard. If you can, use any sensory abilities you possess to guard our location."

Capturing the bee was remarkably easy. It was clear to Shikamaru that this bee/wasp was only meant to be a scout rather than an aggressor. With such a wide group of shinobi targeting it, the small insect had stood little chance and had been tied up by Shikamaru's Shadow Possession Jutsu. With the size and chakra reserves of the bee, Shikamaru would easily be able to keep the possession up for a long period of time, provided it didn't have a technique to escape. It was clear that this bee didn't possess the same chakra-draining abilities as the others, as it hadn't attempted to break out of the Shadow Possession in that way.

Then again, it _was_ just a bee, albeit a much stronger breed than normal. With a nod to Ino, the Yamanaka activated her Mind Transfer Jutsu.


	10. Chapter 10

Honeybee _Chapter 10_

It had only been a brief amount of time since Ino had used her Mind Transfer Jutsu on the bee and Shikamaru already could tell that something had gone wrong. Even with the short period of time, she should have been back by now. It was just a simple insect with basic co-ordinates and direction programmed into it, there shouldn't be-

Ino's body jerked upright as she awoke, eyes wide in alarm.

"Ino. Report." Asuma's tone was firm and commanding, with just enough strength in to shake her out of whatever funk had been occupying her. She glanced up at him with fear evident in her face. Asuma immediately flung a kunai at the shadow-possessed bee, slicing it in half. This seemed enough of a shock to get her to speak.

"Sensei... It's much worse than what we thought..." she muttered, eyes going distant and as she trembled on the ground, only to be quickly embraced by her Sensei as she shook her back to an alert phase.

"W-What did you s-see?" Hinata asked curiously, a worried tone in her voice.

Ino flinched, "It's the bees... she's connected to them... _all of them_. They're feeding her information. Transmitting it across vast distances. _Talking_ to her. There's... there's so m-many... I-I couldn't get out. I... I almost forgot who I _am_. Just.. lost in a sea of minds..."

Surprisingly, it was _Shino_ who who gave the first response, "That is not possible. Such a link between minds does not exist even for Aburame."

Asuma took hold of the situation before anyone else could freak out.  
"Regardless, do you have her location, Ino?"

She nodded, "Yes... they're due North of here. Just over six kilometres away. But, she's... making something. I... don't know what it is, but it reminds me of a summoning Jutsu. It's what's making her _... children..._ collect chakra... She's hungry for it. Needs chakra to power it..."

"'Children'?" Kibra parroted, face scrunched up in confusion, "She's a mother? But she's our age!"

Ino nodded silently, cradling her head in an effort to stop a headache. She winced but managed to speak up, "Her bees... Children born from inside her. And... they _know_ we're coming." at their confused looks she explained, "Beatrice... she detected me. I-I-I, I think she.. learnt things. My memories... She.. cast me out. I wouldn't have been able to escape otherwise. But, with what you just did to her scout, she'll be pissed."

Asuma frowned, "I've heard enough. Kiba, you're the fastest one of us. I want you and Akamaru to take Ino back to Konoha. Explain the situation and have her personally checked out by Hokage-sama."

"N-No... I'll be fine.. just a little surprised, really..." Ino tried to explain, but Asuma was having none of it.

"Absolutely not. I've seen you use the Mind-Transfer Jutsu and it's never affected you in this manner. You're going back to Konoha. No complaints. Kiba?"

With a firm nod, Kiba and Akamaru disappeared with Ino.

"U-uh, Asuma-sensei...?" Hinata muttered, Byakugan eyes blazing white.

"Yes, Hinata? Do you have something to report?"

The Hyuga girl nodded jerkily, "T-The bees, they've c-changed directions. They're all moving t-to the area that Ino-san r-reported."

Asuma nodded, "Onward, then. We must apprehend Beatrice and Tayuya at all costs. If what Ino said is true, Beatrice has stolen not only village secrets, but clan secrets."

The group of Genin and Chunin all gave hesitant glances to one-another before they departed.

Elsewhere, Tayuya had barely caught Beatrice from her position when her doctor had suddenly fallen forward with a look of abject horror on her face. The former Sound Kunoichi had quickly pulled the girl into an embrace and only now was Beatrice beginning to respond, a small weak murmur escaping her lips.

"Beatrice? Can you hear me? What happened?" Tayuya asked worriedly, a concerned expression on her face. Her golden haired doctor was the _only_ person she'd ever truly opened up to before and seeing such a frightened look on Beatrice's face felt wrong.

"One of the Shinobi following us... she's a Yamanaka. She used her Mind-Transfer Jutsu on one of my children... "

Tayuya blinked before her eyes widened in shock, "Wait, you're a _mother?!_ "

Sure, she was worried as all hell about the idea of a _Yamanka_ of all people, considering how crazily overpowered their mental techniques could be, but there were more pressing concerns at the moment and she needed answers.

A golden blush tinged Beatrice's cheeks as she nodded slowly, her head resting on Tayuya's chest.

"M-my bees. I've said before that I'm unique among the Kamizuru, that's one of the reasons. As I stated previously the bees are grown in me. I am, in all forms, their mother." she explained slowly, a tinge of guilt in her voice as her shoulders slumped, "I'm... sorry for not telling you immediately, but I was afaid and I didn't-"

Tayuya cut off her doctor, pulling the blonde's chin upwards so they could stare into eachother's eyes. "I told you before, all I care about is staying with you. So what, you've got crazy bee powers. You're still my doctor and that hasn't changed. Look at me, girl. I'm positively _demonic_ and I couldn't care less."

"Y-You really mean that?" Beatrice ventured, eyes hopeful and pleading.

The former Sound Kunoichi grinned and nodded, "Yup! Now, let's get this summoning ritual and get away from those Konoha jerks. I've had enough craziness for one day, ya'know. All I wanted to do is binge on a fuckload of food and yet here we are in the middle of a forest enacting some crazy reverse-summoning ritual that I've never heard of before!" her reassurances devulged into angry grumbling at the end.

Beatrice giggled at the sight and nodded, slowly stepping up and out of the embrace, her eyes firm and resolute.

"Right. Well, the ritual circle is complete and ready. I just need a vast amount of chakra to carry our journey. I've gotten my bees to drain some chakra and they'll be transporting it here. I'm diverting all of my bees here. We'll need to hold out until the chakra bees have finished."

Asuma, Shikamaru, Shino, Choji and Hinata neared their destination, with the young Hyuga constantly giving them updates on their target's position. Shikamaru was well aware that with a member from each team missing, any combination attacks they'd originally planned to utilise were worthless, especially the fabled Ino-Shika-Cho formation that Team 10 and their predecessors were so well-known for. Even worse, with the potential for their information to be compromised, this mission was shaping up to be one of the most chaotic the Genin and Chunin had been on and there hadn't even been an actual fight yet.

Hinata gestured for the group to halt and they stopped tree-jumping for the moment, the group all landing on a nearby large branch.

"T-Targets are one-hundred meters from us. T-There's over five hundred b-bees there now. O-One hundred are giving chakra to the summoning circle I-Ino-san s-spoke of. T-The others are circling the area."

"What of Beatrice and Tayuya?" Shikamaru questioned.

Hinata grimaced, "T-Tayuya is s-sitting in the centre of the c-circle. B-Beatrice is standing beside her... Uhm... B-Beatrice isn't b-blinking. Or breathing. J-Just standing there."

"Standing inside summoning circle curious. Possibility for summoning large bee of some kind. Why? Has been employed by Kamizuru previously." Shino supplanted, getting slow nods from the group.

"The summoning circle is our initial priority," Asuma commanded, "Whatever she's summoning, it's taking a large amount of chakra to summon. Shikamaru, any ideas?"

The young Nara gave a groan and reluctantly drawled out a plan.

Beatrice flinched suddenly and her posture tightened. Tayuya narrowed her eyes in response.

"They're here, aren't they?"

Her doctor nodded slowly, a frown gracing her beautiful lips. In all honesty, Tayuya could understand just why Beatrice was upset. The girl hadn't been showing it, but the former Sound Kunoichi was sure that her doctor was just as aggravated with the day's events as she was.

"For what it's worth," Beatrice's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, "I am sorry for taking you to Konoha. It was a mistake on my part, but I needed to keep your form stable and Konoha was the only nearby village that would accommodate us on short notice."

"It's fine, Beatrice. I'm just happy that I- GET DOWN!"

Her doctor ducked immediately, just as a trench knife went sailing by her and implanted itself into a nearby tree trunk. Bees angrily buzzed as they swarmed around the area, tightening their defences.

"That's some fine insticts on your lady friend there, Beatrice." a rough voice called out. Tayuya's eyes narrowed as a man in his late twenties walked out, an unlit cigarette roughly dangling in his mouth as he nonchalantly strolled forward. She grimaced. Whilst their opposer _looked_ relaxed, she could see it in his eyes. This man was a seasoned veteran. Not to mention, his face looked vaguely familiar. She may have read about him during her time with Orochimaru perhaps? Whatever it was, she couldn't remember exactly.

"Sarutobi Asuma," Beatrice responded slowly, golden eyes narrowed, "Leader of Team 10, known as the Ino-Shika-Cho formation, in reference to a previous group of Konoha Shinobi who utilised a similar technique." she repeated blankly, getting a narrowed eye stare from Asuma. Whilst Tayuya didn't flinch at the killing intent he let out -Orochimaru had far worse afterall- it _did_ send a tingle of concern down her spine for Beatrice.

"So Ino was right. You did steal information from her memories. You're no better than a thief."

Tayuya blinked, then shrugged. Bee powers are crazy. But she wouldn't have it any other way.

Beatrice shook her head, "I did not learn that information from Yamanaka Ino's mind. I knew this information prior to meeting them." she paused and her head whipped around, just as the swarm of bees managed to catch a rogue kunai aimed at her face. A scream was heard in the distance and Akimichi Choji fell down from the trees, clutching his neck in pain. "Your tactics in battle, however, that I _did_ learn from her."

Tayuya whistled in amusement and idly noticed the runes below her were starting to glow a slight golden hue. She smirked. It wouldn't be long until the circle activated and she'd finally be free with Beatrice.

Asuma glared at the doctor, "You'll pay for that, brat." his hands quickly flashed through a variety of handsigns, "Wind Release: Dust Cloud Technique!"

A large stream of high velocity wind containing dust particles exploded from Asuma's mouth in a cone shaped pattern, heading directly for the two girls. Beatrice's bees immediately moved to intercept and the contained chakra was drained from the technique before it could hit, leaving behind a large cloud of dust.

"Something doesn't go your way, so you attempt to kill the target. So remorseless..." Beatrice muttered, with Tayuya noticing the golden-haired doctor's hands clenching in rage as many of the bees buzzed angrily. "You remind me of the Kamizuru."

Asuma raised an eyebrow as he lit a cigarette, "Oh, and why would that be?"

Beatrice's eyes glowed a rich golden hue as her voice gained a slight buzzing undertone, "Fourteen years ago, I was born to the Lieutenant of our leader in the Kamizuru clan. My Kaa-san, named Tormitsu, had mated with a member of a particular clan who had the unique ability to drain natural energy from their surroundings."

Tayuya was well aware that Beatrice needed to stall her opponent, but even as the bees buzzed angrily along with Beatrice's words, Tayuya's eyes were wide in shock. She knew of a clan with such abilities.. _Jugo's clan._ For Beatrice to be the descendant of _them..._ It was a wonder the girl was even remotely sane.

Beatrice continued, her tone devoid of emotion as she spoke her tale, "Unfortunately, natural energy was never meant to be absorbed in this way by humans. It would mutate their bodies. Send them into bloodthirsty rages." she paused as yellow tears began to rain down her cheeks, but the dull buzzing tone of her voice never faltered, "Naturally... our clan protested against my Kaa-san for laying with one of them. They were too dangerous. The Kamizuru knew from the moment I was born that my body wasn't human. So, lovely kaa-san sought to rectify the problem and tried to bash my little head in with a rock when I was two days old, not a moment of hesitation after she'd returned from the clan meeting..." Beatrice's head finally bobbed down, face hidden by her golden locks.

Tayuya's eyes were wide and her thoughts had stopped. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. Judging by the look on Asuma's face, he was just as shocked.

"However..." Beatrice looked up and glared at the Shinobi through her tears, "The bees did not like that! My clan's own summons turned against them! Kaa-san's own bees forcefully summoned themselves to our encampment and stung her to death before she could kill me! They were-"

Beatrice and Tayuya froze.

"Shadow Possession Complete." Shikamaru drawled as he jumped down from the treetops.

"Well done, Shikamaru." Asuma smiled as he relaxed, moving Choji's paralysed body away from the group as Shino and Hinata jumped down from the treetops. Hinata had a worried expression on her face and her eyes were darting around with her Byakugan activated.

"As expected. Anger affects control over bees. Taunting target effective. Bees unable to move without commands if frozen by chakra. Predictable." Shino spoke monotonously, but they could see the triumph in his eyes.

A scream of outrage was heard and the group snapped towards a snarling Tayuya.

"She just told you her own damn life story and _this_ is how you repay her?! Can't you all see what the hell you're all doing to her!" tears were running down the demonic kunoichi's face as she glared hatefully at the group.

However, much to the surprise, it was Beatrice who responded. A soft smile was gracing her lips.

"It is alright, Tayuya."

Tayuya blinked in shock, "What?! No it's not! You can't just let them do this!"

Suddenly, Shikamaru groaned as he collapsed onto one knee, with his two shadow-possessed captives being forced to copy him. The group of Konoha-nin tensed as the previously-frozen bees started to struggle and buzz angrily. Golden rays shone out of the runes underneath Beatrice and Tayuya, bathing the area in a rich yellow hue.

"Your Shadow Possession Jutsu uses high doses of spiritual chakra to bind the spirit of your opponent. This circle that I'm standing on requires a high amount of chakra to be activated, specifically _spiritual chakra_. Even more-so, each of my children have a particular... _appetite_ for this type of chakra, which also includes most Wind Style Jutsu. When you established a connection to my spirit, you attached to every bee that I control and to this very circle." she glanced over to Tayuya and smiled softly as the possession finally broke away, "As you said before, you told me to never leave you and I intend on keeping my word."

A kunai flew directly at her courtesy of Asuma, but the swarm of bees managed to break free of Shikmaru's Shadow Possession and flick the kunai away. Rather than fanning out into a protective swarm, the bees flew inside the circle.

"Goodbye, Konoha. Your barbaric tactics will be your downfall."

With a vibrant flash of gold, Tayuya and Beatrice disappeared from the Shinobi world.

…

A/N: That complete the Pre-Shippuuden section of this story. I'm debating whether or not to write a sequel to this story that takes place during the Shippuuden era, with Beatrice and Tayuya either acting in antagonistic roles towards Konoha, or having them in entirely different roles for the story.

Thank you all for the reviews and continuing support. This was my first published story and I hope you all enjoyed it. Please let me know what you think. Any suggestions will be appreciated.


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